Writer Chudamani’s women come alive on celluloid in Aynthu Unarvugal

Five of the writer’s stories are part of Gnana Rajasekaran’s new film

While dubbing for Pathil Piraku Varum, one of the five stories in the film Aynthu Unarvugal (Five feelings), based on a short story by late writer R. Chudamani, was in progress, sound engineer Arul Mano was stunned when the heroine bluntly said, “I may remain unmarried, but I am not a virgin.”

“The reaction of the sound engineer made me realise the power of the lines,” said award-winning director Gnana Rajasekaran, who has made five stories written by Chudamani into a film.

While it is like an anthology, all stories in Aynthu Unarvugal are connected by threads represented by the personalities of five different women, of different ages. “Chudamani has delved deep into the minds of her characters and has created a devastating effect through them. She was far ahead of her time in capturing the aspirations of a modern woman, and they are unconventional,” said Mr. Rajasekaran, who has earlier directed Mogamul, Bharathi, Periyar and Ramanujan.