Auto-rickshaw
driver
turned
writer
M
Chandrakumar,
on
whose
book
"Lock
Up" the
forthcoming
Tamil
thriller
Visaranai
is
based,
is
eager
to
know
how
the
general
public
will
react
to
the
film
that
is
inspired
from
events
from
his
life.
The
film,
which
had
its
world
premiere
at
Venice
International
Film
Festival
last
year,
chronicles
the
harrowing
experience
of
Chandrakumar
in
a
prison.
"The
international
audiences
were
moved
by
the
film.
I
was
equally
moved
by
their
reaction.
However,
I'm
more
interested
to
know
how
audiences
here
will
react
when
the
film
releases
this
week
in
cinemas," Chandrakumar,
who
is
also
known
as
Auto
Chandran,
told
IANS.
Last
year,
the
film
was
screened
at
Mumbai
International
Film
Festival,
leaving
audiences
in
awe.
"The
events
have
been
recreated
very
sensitively.
So
much
so
that,
it
will
trigger
dialogue
and
discourse
on
basic
human
rights," he
said.
Back
in
1983,
in
Guntur,
Chandran
along
with
his
three
friends
was
detained
by
police
and
was
mercilessly
beaten
black
and
blue
for
13
days
for
a
crime
he
never
committed.
Decades
later,
at
the
behest
of
his
close
friend,
he
penned
down
the
agony
and
pain
he
suffered
in
the
hands
of
the
police
as
Tamil
novel
"Lock
Up".
"I
was
in
my
20s
when
the
incident
happened.
I'd
fled
from
my
house
in
Coimbatore,
and
before
doing
several
odd
jobs,
I
finally
landed
in
Guntur
where
my
fate
changed
forever.
We
were
booked
on
a
case
of
doubt," he
said.
When
National
Award
winning
film-maker
Vetrimaaran
read
the
novel,
he
decided
to
make
it
a
film.
"The
film
was
shot
at
the
same
place
where
we
were
held
captive.
It
was
a
10X10
ft
room
without
any
source
of
air
and
light," recalled
Chandran,
who
said
Vetrimaaran
had
done
full
justice
to
his
story.
The
film,
which
is
jointly
produced
by
actor
Dhanush
and
Vetrimaaran,
features
Dinesh,
Murugadoss,
Samuthirakani,
Kishore,
Anandi
and
Ajay
Ghosh.
Chandran
hasn't
met
the
three
others
who
were
locked
up
with
him
since
they
were
released.
He
doesn't
even
know
if
they're
alive.
"We
parted
ways
fearing
we
may
be
arrested
again.
I
hope
when
the
film
releases,
they
watch
it
and
know
it's
our
story.
I
wish
I
could
meet
them
again," he
said.