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Staines makes it to the movies

Rajitha

Just the other day, this site carried the story of a real-life incident providing grist for the movie-maker's mill.

Here's another one -- a trilingual film, Divyam has been announced.

To be made in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, the film will focus on the real-life incident wherein the Orissa-based Christian missionary, Graham Staines, was burnt alive.

The film has been registered by ad film-maker Biju Ottapara, who will helm the project.

While the film-maker is reluctant to go into detail at this point, we learn that the film will, through the Staines incident, look at the larger picture of conversions to Christianity, the angst aroused thereby within a section of the Hindu community, and the whole question of religion-based atrocities.

The cast and crew are being finalised, and work is expected to begin shortly on what the film-maker says will be a low-budget film, with an ensemble cast and a tight production time leading up to a release either in end-2000 or early 2001.