Debutant director Lenin Balakrishnan all praise for actor Lena for her work in his Malayalam movie ‘Article 21’

Lena in the film
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Article 21-A of the Indian Constitution states ‘the State shall provide free and compulsory education to children of the age of six to fourteen years in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine’. And this lies at the heart of Lenin Balakrishnan’s debut film Article 21, which releases in theatres on July 28.

“The onus is on the State to implement it, and unfortunately, it is not being done. Our film is not a critique of anybody, we are just telling a story,” says Lenin. This film is also among those that bore the brunt of the pandemic as it was in post-production when the country went into lockdown in March 2020. 

The film has done its festival run, Lenin and the team are now looking forward to the theatre release. He wants more people to watch the film because the aim, of making the film, is to bring about a change or at least make people aware of Article 21-A. “There are still children out there who slip through the cracks, who do not have access to education. Article 21 is about two kids like that. Also, given the subject, we have made a film that would work commercially. It is not a documentary or a newsreel type.” He wrote the script, “keeping the subject as commercially viable”.  

The 32-year-old director calls the film ‘a mouthpiece’ for the children of the street. The film pans in on the story of Thamara, a ragpicker, her two sons and the opportunities denied to them.  

The inspiration for the film came from a Facebook post in 2015: a photograph of two street kids walking with bags flung over their shoulders. “And I happened to see my brother heading to school with his school bag on his back…it made me think about the two vastly different images!” It was much later, in 2018, that he learnt about Article 21-A. Interestingly, his younger brother, Leswin, is also acting in the film.  

Aju Varghese in the film
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Despite the topic it addresses, Article 21 is not a critique or indictment of any political party. “That said, there is politics in the film. It is unavoidable. Children without access to education, despite the legislation, is an issue which needs to be addressed. If it is a law, why isn’t it being implemented? This is more than a film, we want a change!” Lena and Aju Varghese appear in pivotal roles, while Joju George has an extended cameo in it. He is also grateful to music director Gopi Sundar and sound designer Renganath Ravee for their unstinting support.

Lena’s tranformation

Lena’s look in the trailer of the film has garnered a lot of praise for the actor. The actor’s transformation as Thamara landed make-up artist Rashid Ahammed the Kerala State Award (2021). “We wanted more in terms of make-up than just a ‘darkened’ face for Lena. We did a look test three months before filming. Kudos to Lena for her patience; she would spend two-and-a-half hours applying makeup and another couple of hours to get it off. She became the character: she had to smoke beedi, chew pan… the places we shot the film in were not the prettiest. She was a thorough professional throughout. Also full credit to Rashid too for maintaining the continuity [of makeup] .” 

A challenge that he faced was dubbing parts of the dialogue in Tamil. “Lena had no problem, but getting the boys to do it was very difficult and that demanded a lot of time. We wanted it to be perfect.” Up next for Lenin is a biopic on the communist revolutionary P Krishna Pillai, “I have already started working on it,” is all he will reveal.