Briton writes script based on auto driver Chitralekha from Kannur

He was googling to get preliminary details about Dalit millionaires in India as part of a film project he was entertaining in his mind. That search finally led him to E. Chitralekha, a Dalit autorickshaw driver from Edat, near Payynnur here, who had been in the news since she was allegedly attacked by local Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers and her struggle highlighting the plight of her family.

Fraser Scott, script writer and art seller from the United Kingdom, has now put on hold his curiosity about Dalit millionaires as he is busy writing the script of a story based on Chitralekha for a Bollywood film.

The idea of writing the script based on the life of a poor but resolute Dalit woman has got an impetus when his announcement of the plan in his Instagram account drew the attention of filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor, his family friend. Mr. Kapoor found the story of Chitralekha, who has been earning a livelihood by driving her autorickshaw, amazing.

He commented that Chitralekha’s is a “story of courage no less than that of Bandit Queen.” The reference was to his own 1994 film on Phoolan Devi.

“I visited Kannur recently to interview Chitralekha and will visit her again next week for another round of meeting before the script is ready,” Mr. Scott told The Hindu over phone from Mumbai.

The script would be completed in a month, he said adding that four Bollywood production companies had already shown interest in making a film on the story.

A saga of struggle

Mr. Scott in his Instagram page says that Chitralekha “fought against unbearable hardship to drive an autorikshaw” referring to the alleged attack on her and the torching of her vehicle.

Roopesh Kumar, an activist who is working in the film field, served as Mr. Scott’s local link to connect to Chitralekha and her family.

“I never thought that my life can be the story of a film,” said Chitralekha who is excited about the project. The film would be a recognition of my struggle, she said.

She is currently living with her husband in a rented house at Kattampally here and the construction of her house on a five-cent plot granted by the previous United Democratic Front government is in progress.

She had left her home at Edat as she found it hard to live there. “Local CPI(M) workers are not allowing me to live there,” she said. The previous UDF government’s decision to rehabilitate her followed her sit-in agitation in front of the Collectorate here for 122 days in 2015.