Chandrakumar, an autorickshaw driver from Coimbatore still remembers those 15 days in 1983 when he was in a lock-up in Andhra Pradesh. In his 20s in 1983 he along with 3 of his friends were illegally detained and beaten up black and blue by the police for nearly 13 days for a crime that he did not commit. Decades later, he wrote a book “Lockup” in 2006 on his experiences narrating the brutality he suffered in a police lock-up.

Inspired by his novel, director Vetrimaran made a Tamil film “Visaranai”. It has been invited to the competition section at the Venice Film Festival and Chandran, now an auto driver in Coimbatore, is all ready to fly to Venice.

Coimbatore autowallah takes ‘write route’ to Venice film fest:

He is a Class 10 dropout, but Chandran is well versed with the ways of the world and uses his keen observation and analytical prowess to record his experiences in the form of stories he writes while waiting for passengers and during traffic jams.

“I narrated my experiences at the lock-up to my friend Gnani alias Thangavelan. Thangavelan who had worked with noted filmmaker Balumahendra in a few movies, suggested that I pen my experiences, which came out as Lock Up in 2006. Again, it was Thangavelan who presented a copy of it to director Vetrimaran,” Chandrakumar said.

Visaranai is the only Tamil film among the 20 movies selected among 2,000 from among 120 countries. The auto driver-turned-writer has since written many books, while continuing to play his trade.