Emerging from the shadows
MALEEHA RAGHAVIAH
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`Velutha Nizhalugal' documents the attempts of a group of marginalised women to rebuild their lives.
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BRAVE EFFORT: `Velutha Nizhalugal' narrates a story of grit and tenacity.
`Velutha Nizhalugal' (White Shadows), a documentary produced by the Kozhikode-based Vanita Society, depicts a sense of reawakening among sex workers, and how they too have a legitimate right to organise and empower themselves.
This was the second time that the team members of the Vanitha Society Partnership in Sex Health Project, a programme of Kerala Aids Control Society, Government of Kerala, were trying their hand at a cultural venture.
The Vanitha Society has been working for the uplift of sex workers for the last five years.
Earlier, a play `Ottarathriyude kamukimar,' staged by the team as part of a partnership theatre project, had received rave reviews, and won the accolades of Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi too.
Sense of achievement
And after completing `Velutha Nizhalukal,' what the members experience is a sense of achievement - having provided the inputs for the script and donning roles in the documentary. The documentary, which tugged at the heartstrings of the viewers, relates the circumstances under which women fall prey to the flesh trade and the resultant health risks they are exposed to.
`Velutha Nizhalukal' was screened at a programme, held in connection with the fifth anniversary of the organisation, at Kozhikode Town Hall. By juxtaposing the death of Kunhivi, a sex worker, who gets caught by the police, the director has sought to highlight the harsh realities of life and the intervention of the Vanitha Society in helping such women empower themselves. The documentary highlights a catharsis through which energies are channelised to lead a new life. Kunhivi had allegedly died in police custody in Kozhikode in 1987 under mysterious circumstances, and her death provided the impetus to the Vanitha Society members to organise themselves.
The documentary raises the query why nothing was done to punish those responsible for Kunhivi's death. It highlights the determination of the women to rebuild their lives and give their children a new life.
Says Sreela Sreedhar, manager of the Kerala Aids Control Society, "As of now, the society has 147-odd members in the 19 to 65 age group, and networks with more than 600 sex workers all over Kerala."
Shanta Kumar who has directed the film has also penned the script for the documentary. Ashraf Palazhi is the cameraman.
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