'You don't need too many scenes to show emotional depth'

Director Sidharth Vishwanath opens up about his latest film Sorgavaasal, its themes and the violence in it, casting RJ Balaji, learnings from Pa Ranjith, and more

- NARAYANI M

LIBERATION. This is the one word that is on the minds of anyone inside the prison.

Director Sidharth Vishwanath began drafting his debut film Sorgavaasal based on this concept and the lives of the people inside it. "There is a completely different life inside that we haven't seen in movies.

We cannot defend any crime. But, there is a thin line between glorifying prison life and sensitively showing how convicts are mentally and psychologically affected inside prison," he says. On the extensive research he did for the film, Sidharth says, "One of the most shocking facts that I discovered was that 70 per cent of them are undertrial prisoners. But the judicial process has forced them to stay inside without the tag of a convict.

They say someone is 'innocent until proven guilty,' but these people are guilty at first and must prove their innocence.

AG Perarivalan's book has been a real eye-opener in this regard," he says, stating that everyone lives with the hope that the 'sorgavaasal will open for them one day.

However, the spark that led Sidharth to pursue the story was the question of whether this institution helps people reform. The film takes a page from the 1999 riots in Madras Central Prison and presents a fictionalised version of it.