Krishen Jit Fund 2021 doubles arts support, announces 11 beneficiaries

This year's Krishen Jit Fund featured 11 recipients (from top, left) Susan Philip, Anthony Chong, Rezza Coebar Abel, Talha K.K., Komeil Zarin, a reprentative of Syamsul Azhar, (bottom, from left) Izat Arif, Jeffrey Lim and Gogularaajan Rajendran. Photo: The Star/Ong Soon Hin

Gogularaajan Rajendran, a filmmaker, has always heard rich stories from his grandparents about estate life in Malaysia in the 1960s. What bothered him was the fact that he had never seen such stories depicted in local films.

“All this while, plantation stories have only been focused on the struggles of the people. But there is more to it than that. I believe we have missed out the life, joys and humour of Malaysian Indian communities who lived in the plantations. I'm curious about the many rich and nuanced stories out there. I’m planning to interview 50 people over the age of 60 from five different estates as part of a documentary film and research project for my upcoming feature film Kaali,” says Gogu, as he is fondly known.