Tamil filmmaker plans Russian film on Leo Tolstoy

Tamil filmmaker Venkateshkumar G is putting together an ambitious Russian film on the life of influential novelist, Leo Tolstoy

When filmmaker Venkateshkumar G was cleaning a cupboard in his Valasaravakkam house in 2019, he stumbled upon an old Tamil book penned by his great grandfather, Rao Sahib K Kothandapani Pillai, an Indian diplomat and a Tamil scholar. The book, titled Kadhaimanikkovai: Stories from Tolstoy, was a translation of three stories of the great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy and was published in 1932 as a text book in the Madras Presidency.

“I had heard the name ‘Leo Tolstoy’ but didn’t know much about him. I read that translated book with great interest,” recalls Venkateshkumar, over a Zoom call.

He sent a digital copy of the book to the Leo Tolstoy Museum at Yasnaya Polyana, Russia, which was delighted to receive it. The museum curators, in turn, invited him to Russia, for which Venkateshkumar prepared and presented a speech on Tolstoy’s influence on Tamil literature.