Filmmaker Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi has collaborated with composer Santhosh Narayanan for a music video that asks us to empathise with members of the transgender community. Expected to release on Valentines Day, this music video is different from most music others, and focuses on the life of transgender persons. The makers hope to spread more awareness through the video. The music video is titled Sadhaiyai Meeri, which translates to ‘Beyond the flesh’.
#standbyme #sadhayaimeeri music video coming up soon @Music_Santhosh @Lyricist_Vivek @Cheer_ngo @Rajsdb @balasubramaniem @thinkmusicindia pic.twitter.com/xlL6vy33AO
— kiruthiga udhayanidh (@astrokiru) February 12, 2017
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Speaking to ToI, Kiruthiga said, “They don’t need our sympathy; all they want is empathy and the right to lead a dignified life.Through Sadhaiyai Meeri, I have tried to feature the truth of their lives. Twelve transgenders have acted in this song and all of them are first-time actors,” she said.
For her research, Kiruthiga visited homes and interacted with many transgender persons through a Chennai-based NGO called Cheer Organisation. “I understood their emotional feelings and the research I did changed my perception towards them. Earlier, when I saw them on roads, I used to sympathise with their way of living. But only when I spoke to them I realised that they are the most affected people in our society and that they need our support,” she said.
She commented on the timing of the release – Valentine’s Day, and emphasised how most trans persons are deprived of love, after the truth about their bodies and gender is revealed. “I feel they are the ones who are deprived of love in this society. They had been showered with love when they were kids. The moment their family came to know about them, they were abandoned,” she said.
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Earlier, lyricist Vivek spoke about his experience while writing the lyrics of the song. “I had written a poem titled Vanavil Manidhargal on the life of the trans community. When I heard their stories, I felt disturbed. That is the feeling that I brought into this music video. I wanted my lines to question the behaviour of human beings and also to make them understand,” he told Deccan Chronicle.
The four-minute video will show the story and life of a trans person through a song. It features 12 trans persons who have no prior experience in acting. Kiruthiga assures that while the song is a peppy number, the emotions behind the video will be conveyed. The lyrics are by Vivek with the shooting done mostly in and around Chennai, under the banner of Lyca Productions.