Chitralekha with Fraser Scott (L) and husband SreekantKannur: The life of Dalit auto driver Chitralekha, who shot to fame following her valiant fight against discrimination at an autorickshaw stand at Edattu, a stronghold of CPM in Kannur, will be made into a Bollywood film.
British filmmaker Fraser Scott has started writing the script. He met Chitralekha recently and held discussions. Director Shekhar Kapoor's recent Instagram post lauding Chitraleha as a lady as brave as Phoolan Devi was discussed at the national level.
Fraser Scott, lives in Mumbai, had come to meet Chitralekha after he came to know of her from the internet. The director told Manorama News that actress Vidya Balan was being considered for the lead role in the film.
Chitralekha has not been driving an autorickshaw in the past few years due to ill health. Her husband Sreekant is an autorickshaw driver in Kannur town.
Fight for the right to work
Chitralekha, a native of Edattu, Payyannur in Kannur had started her autorickshaw service at Edattu in 2004. Objections and impediments from CPM-CITU activists had hindered her service several times.
Once her vehicle was set ablaze by party workers. She was bought another auto rickshaw by the money pooled in by friends and human rights activists. The police had registered several cases against Chitralekha and her husband, Sreekant, over complaints filed by CPM workers.
The woman fighter had observed day-night strike in a shed before the Kannur Collectorate for four months in 2014. She had also sat in strike in front of the Kerala Government secretariat, following which the then UDF government had granted her a plot of five cents.
