Capturing and Embracing
Love and Culture

“If you love it, then you have to put in the work,” exclaimed Priyanka Tamilarasan as she reflected on the passion and care that went into the making of her empowering documentary, Abinayam.

The 13-minute film delved into the resilient spirit of Ambiga Krishnasamy, a Bharatnatyam (Indian classical dance) practitioner who continues her passion despite suffering from multiple sclerosis. With support from her loved ones, she practices in her wheelchair to perform for a national television programme (Thilaanaa on Mediacorp Vasantham channel)

Beautifully portraying the dedication of Bharatnatyam practitioners, Priyanka’s labour of love was more than just a Final Year Project for her polytechnic studies four years ago.

During her interview with OKJ on Qrious Culture, Priyanka revealed for the first time in public that Bharatnatyam was also her childhood passion. “This was very close to my heart! I tried my best to pick it up when I was 6 years old. Even though I failed, the fire in me never died,” shared Priyanka, who relished the opportunity to make a documentary about her culture.

“If you give me an opportunity to soak in my culture, wow! It’s like my cup of tea,” said Priyanka, who also shared how the making of Abinayam came from a rather trivial encounter.

While on her internship at a production company, Priyanka was tasked to aid the wheelchair-bound Ambiga as she changed into her dance sari. The short interaction, which was spoken about in greater detail on the podcast, planted a seed of curiosity in Priyanka that took root long after the internship had ended.

“I cannot explain exactly why that connected me with her, but it was just that specific incident. I knew that I wanted to explore more with her,” said Priyanka.

Priyanka and her team subsequently spent many weeks bonding with Ambiga as well as her family. OKJ highlighted how the short film had an unusually large cast of five interviewees, including Ambiga. To this, Priyanka responded, “At the end of the day, when the viewer is watching, I want them to be able to connect to each one of the other characters in Ambiga’s life.”

This aspect of forming relationships is a fundamental part of the documentary process. But in the case of Abinayam, it was also something Priyanka wanted to gift to Ambiga. As seen in the interviews featured in the film, Ambiga is often seated with her loved ones while they are being interviewed. This was a creative choice made by Priyanka, who elaborated, “I wanted it to be a gift to Ambiga. Because often we don’t get the opportunity to sit down and have a moment with these kinds of people in our lives. When you are going through tough times, how often do you sit down and talk about it with the person that you love?”

Abinayam is a film that is richly soaked in Indian culture, yet the dialogue of the film is mixed in English and Tamil. “I think that relatability is stronger when the languages are mixed because the (Singapore) culture stands out a lot more,” expressed Priyanka. Her bilingual edge certainly came into play, particularly as she was also working with Chinese teammates for this project.

Crediting her mum for polishing her proficiency, Priyanka admitted that she struggled a lot with Tamil when she was young. Despite being in love with her culture and heritage, her command of Tamil did not come naturally. “It’s a lot more than liking a language. It’s the work that goes behind it,” said the filmmaker, who is also an aspiring Tamil writer.

With years of reading, watching, and writing Tamil content as her foundation, Priyanka successfully carried out her role as director of her team and storyteller of Ambiga, her family, and the Indian dance community.

The film ends literally on a poetic note with an original poem written by Priyanka in Tamil. It is a signature mark of Priyanka’s work, who felt compelled to summarise the ‘ray of hope’ that Ambiga portrays. “I know when I made this film, I wanted it to be something that (Ambiga) is very proud of at the end of the day when she watches it… that it reminds her of how it all started, where she is now, and wherever she is going, it will be great.”

On her hopes for what audiences will take away from watching Abinayam, Priyanka simply said, “I really want people to meet Ambiga. The way I felt when I saw her for the first time, I hope they feel the same way when they watch the documentary.”