When Shruthi Sharanyam speaks of the six main characters of her debut film, they sound like friends she has long had. Jaya's story alone should be a separate film and Rachel is almost like me, she says about two of the six persons she wrote about all too fondly. It was a pet topic, something she had mused about for years before sitting down with a nearly impossible deadline to write. When she was done, the film, B 32 Muthal 44 Vare, became a neatly woven work of art documenting through fiction the many bodily challenges women go through. Promptly, it won the Kerala State Award under the Women and Transgender category.
It is the third award for the film, made as part of the government project to fund women filmmakers. "While I am very happy for the recognition, I felt it would be nice if the government could consider a separate category for filmmakers from the trans community [instead of clubbing women and trans persons]. I have been an ally [to the community], and it would be a great step in bringing trans people to the mainstream," she says.
One of her six characters in the film is a trans man, played by Anarkali Marikar. Shruthi, in the limited time she had to write the script – about 12 days in all – spoke to members of the community before writing that character. She did whatever research she could, she says, for letting her script be about the real stories of women. One of the characters, played by Remya Nambeesan, is a cancer patient who has had a mastectomy. "These are not my journeys, so I need to understand them through people who have been through that. There are my own experiences too, and the experiences of those around me. But I could only bring about 50% of the script detailing to screen because of limited resources, time and everything we had," Shruthi says.
Anarkali and Zarin in the film
There were many such challenges during production dealing with a government organisation – the time lag and official delays, she says. Every year, the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) selects films of two women to produce. “In post-production too, there was a lot of delay in marketing and distribution and I had to step up often to do it on my own, reaching out to theatre owners and organisations and doing my own marketing. There was a lot of learning, but the process should be smoother. A government project for women empowerment should be implemented in a way that will motivate them," Shruthi says.
Watch: Trailer of the film
Before that, in the early stages of writing, she had help from members of the jury appointed to select the women filmmakers for the project. There were challenges in deciding the ‘cut-points’ and the transition from one story to another and finally, interlinking them all. Jury members, including the late scriptwriter John Paul, directors Dr Biju and Sherry Govindan, actor Cuckoo Parameswaran and dubbing artiste Bhagyalakshmi were helpful with their suggestions, Shruthi says. The result was a smooth screenplay, letting the stories of the five women and the trans man flow into each other, allowing comforting relationships to build among them.
The actors she chose for the roles, some fresh or relatively new, were so befitting that it is difficult to tell them apart from the characters they played. Shruthi thanks her casting director Archana Vasudev – also a scriptwriter – for helping find the right persons for the job. Remya Nambeesan, whom Shruthi knew from before, was the first person to be in the project. Anarkali was on her mind for the trans character. Zarin Shihab, who played a nurse in the web series Family Man became Iman, a hotel employee conscious of her petite size.
Krisha and Zarin
The character of Jaya, whom Shruthi describes as having a beautiful arc as the domestic worker who turns into a lingerie model and enjoys it, was played by Ashwathy, a vlogger, dancer and activist who spoke out about colour and caste politics. The last two to join were Raina Radhakrishnan as the schoolgirl Nidhi and Krisha Kurup as Rachel, an aspiring actor who speaks up when she is sexually harassed.
“There is a bit of me in every character, I can’t pick a favourite,” Shruthi says, but admits that the most she relates to is the character of Rachel, having had similar experiences as her.
Ashwathy as Jaya in the film, with Shruthi
Shruthi, who has made short films and music videos before – Charulata, Manumalayalam and Baale – says she must have taken inspiration from her family members, beginning with her grandmother, all of whom have been artistically inclined. Her grandmother and mother were voice artists at All India Radio. Both her parents were active in theatre. Her cousin Sudeep is a composer and did the music of the film.