Hosur to Hollywood - A street kid’s journey

Denied even the banal comforts of childhood, having endured suffering that we the middle-class can only contemplate in anodyne smugness, he has become an eponymous figure for orphans everywhere. The aptly-titled Superman and the School of Necessity, a short film directed by UK-based film-maker Debs Gardner-Paterson of the We are all Rwandans fame, has catapulted Abhisurya, all of 10 years old, from suburban obscurity to instant recognition, at least among the art and cinema cognoscenti worldwide.

The orphan from the nondescript Hosur village on the outskirts of Bangalore plays the lead role in the acclaimed movie about the travails of out-of-school children, which was screened last night at the Nashville Film Festival in the USA. Yet, Abhisurya’s life story is more than just an 80-minute ticket to a potential Hollywood blockbuster.

His eyes are wise beyond his years, a lifetime of suffering subsumed in that crinkly smile and spontaneous laughter. Already aware of how ephemeral things can be, he addresses his new-found prominence with a wry humour and ironic detachment that most adults would envy. “They told me to act, I told them I had no idea of what they are talking about. Then Manjula aunty (a crew member of the film) told me to visualise her as my mother and to speak, which I did. Next, I was taken to a village where the shooting was done. At the end, the English-aunty told me that my performance was very good,” Abhisurya says matter-of-factly.

Lauding him, the film’s co-producer Swaroop Kanchi said: “He has done a great job. He has received great reviews on the blogs after the film festival. We are exploring the option of making it a full-length feature film.”

THE EPICAL JOURNEY 

His tryst with filmdom was accidental. It started when Debs visited Bosco Mane, an NGO that works for street children, two months ago looking for a child artiste. 

“They told me to act, I told them I had no idea of what they are talking about. Then Manjula aunty (a crew member of the film) told me to visualise her as my mother and to speak, which I did. Next, I was taken to a village where the shooting was done. At the end, the English-aunty told me that my performance was good,” Abhisurya says matter-of-factly. 

LESSONS FROM LIFE

Ironically, the jolly 10-year-old who refuses to go to school in reel life, in fact, was deprived of education in reality and forced into child labour. Working for 14 hours in a powerloom and getting thrashed regularly, Abhisurya yearned to go to school. He grew up prematurely, teased by the neighbourhood boys for having an alcoholic as a father. At eight, when he returned from school one day, he saw his mother lying on the floor, her eyes closed forever.

“She was dead and all that I can remember about her are images of her unloading sand from a rickety tractor. I never saw my father again,” Abhisurya told Bangalore Mirror, fighting back tears.

Abhisurya and his younger sister Kamala then went to live with their grandparents, who in turn packed them off to a relative’s house in Bangalore’s Tavarekere area.

After an year of schooling, he was pulled out and sent to a powerloom factory in the vicinity. “I used to work from 7:30 am to 9 pm every day and used to earn Rs 500 per week. I gave Rs 400 to my caretakers and left the remaining Rs 100 with the factory owner as my saving.

But all hell broke loose when the factory suffered losses. The owner told me not to come to work, but my caretakers presumed I had become lazy and they used to thrash me everyday,” he recalls.

A SAMARITAN STEPS IN

But he saw a ray of hope when a neighbour, whom he calls Rita aunty, decided to hand him back to his grandparents. But his troubles did not end and soon, unable to stand it anymore, Abhisurya ran away from home.

Subsequently, he was rescued from the city railway station by Bosco Mane, an NGO that rehabilitates street and working children. Here, Abhisurya’s life changed. Bosco director Fr Geo Kalladanthiyil says: “He did not take much time to get along with other children, he was full of energy.” Abhisurya’s tryst with filmdom was accidental. It started when Debs, along with crew member Manjula Saikumar, visited Bosco Mane in Chamarajpet two months ago looking for a child artiste. Abhisurya’s name was suggested. The rest, as they say, is history.

After the movie was completed, Abhisurya’s peers started calling him ‘Superman’. But what made him more happy were the chocolates that he got after the shoot. Abhisurya is yet to see the movie. “I was told that they will screen it in my hostel, I am waiting to show it to my friends,” he says.

But does this little superman, who is a great fan of Kannada star Darshan, aspire to become a film hero? “No way,” he says, adding, “I want to become a doctor as I can serve a lot of people. If I become a film star, I might have to lead a selfish life.” 

Now, those are words to treasure!


This appeared in Bangalore Mirror