“Shooting for this movie was mentally strengthening,” says Nirupama Santhosh, producer of Jallikattu 5-23 January, 2017.

The movie is based on the Marina uprising which took place in January this year. The film makers started working on the movie during the protest and it is now in the post-production stage.The film’s first poster was launched at Wall Street in New York near the charging bull, the same place that housed the Occupy Wall Street back in 2011.

Santhosh Gopal, director of the film, has previously worked with P.C Sreeram.

“We were among the protesters at the Marina. Nobody knew what was going to happen next, but we started shooting” says Santhosh, who along with his wife Nirupama, ran a video rental chain ‘Cinema Paradiso’ in India. “We got to know many people during the protest. Once the protest was over, we started following the protesters.

Some of them were willing to be a part of the movie, while some of them refused. People were protesting in 50 different countries. The story has many layers. It is not only about Jallikkattu, it is more than that, it is about the spirit of the people,” says Nirupama, who is a film curator by profession.

According to Jeyapal. N, one of the co-producers, the crew started working in January. “I wanted to support the youth movement, give them the credit. That was how I got involved.”

Jallikattu 5-23 January, 2017 is produced by Ahimsa Productions. The crew includes Anurag Kashyap (executive producer), Cinematographer S.Ka. Bhoopathy, Music director Ramesh Vinayakam, Audiographer Udhaykumar and editor Kasi Vishwanathan. The film is co-produced by N Jayapal, Guru Saravanan and Ganapathy Murugesh.

Nirupama is currently in Kenya with the crew after releasing the film’s teaser at the United Nations Youth Conference.