Writer and filmmaker Indu Lakshmi saw the Nila in spate only during the shooting of her maiden feature film, Nila. But the much-celebrated river, the second longest one in Kerala, has a special place in Indu’s heart as a result of her numerous readings of litterateur MT Vasudevan Nair’s works, many of which feature the sandy expanse and languidly flowing waters of the river.
As Nila releases in cinemas on August 4, Indu traces the making of her film and why she titled it after the river.
“To me, the Nila is not only a river. The life-giving river in North Kerala symbolises many aspects of life. During summer, the river bed becomes exposed and the river becomes tiny streams in a sea of golden sand. But come the rain, the Nila is transformed. The majesty and beauty of the river during the monsoon is a sight to behold,” she says.
