“Dear soft-hearted Sholeh, in the other world it is you and me who are the accusers and others who are the accused. Let’s see what God wants. I wanted to embrace you until I die. I love you.”
Excerpts from Reyhaneh Jabbari’s message to her mother
Numbness, angst, helplessness – many who read Reyhaneh Jabbari’s final message to her mother felt these. So did Nusrath Jahan. But the heart-rending farewell note of the Iranian woman hanged in Tehran last year became a festering wound for Nusrath. She combed together every detail she could on Reyhaneh; from social media, videos, interviews and newspapers. From Reyhaneh, she moved to Sholeh watching interviews on how she endured the day and night her daughter was hanged. “Both of them are an integral part of my daily prayers,” she says. Reyhaneh is quiet strength, “Her eyes never betrayed fear,” says Nusrath, and her mother’s stoicism egged Nusrath out of her comfort zone. The airline professional with over 20 years in the industry found herself treading an unchartered path to do her bit for the indomitable spirit of Reyhaneh. “I felt as if something had happened to someone I knew. Reyhaneh in her letter says “with each birth a responsibility is put on one’s shoulder” and I believed I had mine,” says Nusrath.
The sense of responsibility resulted in “The Written” directed by debutants Anwar Hussain and P. Musthafa. The short film scripted by Vinu Abraham, fixes Reyhaneh’s story in the Malabar but stays true to her spirit. The 30-minute film puts her in a fictional milieu, yet recreates Reyhaneh’s life in the prison by stitching together the incidents she mentions in her letter to the mother. The film does not boast masterly touches for sure, but the spirit in which it was born was not missed by the full-house.
The film, say its makers, happened in three days. “I told the directors if they can make me act, I can be Reyhaneh. It must have been a great challenge for them to make someone who has never faced the camera act,” says Nusrath who has produced “The Written”. Among the few experienced hands in the team is script writer Abraham. He says once Nusrath told him the purpose of the film, the script was born in a day. “It is not a big project, but a sincere and passionate attempt,” says Abraham. Shot in and around Kozhikode, day and night over three days, it aims to take Reyhaneh’s story to as many new viewers as possible. “We will continue to work on the film and I plan to take it to a few festivals,” says Nusrath. Her desire though is to meet Sholeh, Reyhaneh’s mother.
