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A poignant portrayal

On cobblers aims at getting them their due

R.P. Amudhan's documentary film, "Seruppu" (Footwear), is a moving account of the lifestyle of cobblers living in Dharmanathapuram in Tiruchi. The film talks about the aspiration and pangs of the Catholic `arunthathiyars'(dalits), their defeated mind and spirit to succeed.

Secluded society

"The main idea was to bring their struggles to light. The geographical location of this place stunned me, as I was surprised to see a slum isolated in the heart of the city. Theirs is a secluded society. By virtue of being Christians, they do not enjoy any reservation benefits. Being part of Pazhaya Koil Parish of Palakkarai has not brought any succour to them either," Amudhan pours out.

Despite living amidst scum and dirty drain water, these people have steely nerves to endure all misgivings in life. The film was shot in 45 days but it took more than eight months for him to edit 44 hours of footage. "I had a tough time cutting it to five hours and then to three hours. After screening it for my friends and public, I got their feed back and reduced the footage further — in its present form and length of 103 minutes.

The final version had to cross eight different levels of editing. Still many might find it to be a long documentary. I want to erase the notion on docu lengths. It was a challenge for me," says Mr. Amudhan.

Raises questions

The documentary raises several questions. "The skilled craftspersons following this traditional caste based occupation have been left in the lurch both by the Government and the Church. They do not have any economical support system, which has forced these people to fall prey to usury. Moreover, they are denied of any big responsibilities in their own den," he avers.

The creator had also worked on the narrative style. "The film was deliberately kept long to reflect the lifestyle of the people, their laborious, time consuming job. I have packed the documentary with details. The objective of the movie is to support the cause of getting reservation benefits for these cobblers and to get the Church to take note of their plight. It is really pathetic. On one side you have people who oppose reservation, on the other side, you see young boys living in slums aspiring to become lawyers and civil servants," says Mr. Amudhan, who had the credit of winning National Jury Award for his documentary `Pee' (Shit).

Now, he intends to screen the documentary across the State for the next six months.

T. SARAVANAN

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