The movie opens with Meenakshi jumping off a wall. Her eyes are stern, indicating that she is on a mission. Determination reflects in her eyes and gradually she narrates the story that leads her to that spot and situation. She is there to take revenge on the man who hit Sreeni ettan, the peon in her school, with whom she travels to school every day. Meenakshi is accompanied by Sreeni and the rest of the movie shows their plan and execution.
While reading this, the popular movie Maheshinte Prathikaram might have crossed your mind. Yes, this short movie titled Vengeance of Meenakshi is a tribute to Maheshinte Prathikaram. But that doesn’t mean the movie is inspired from Maheshinte Prathikaram. Ronnie Manuel Joseph, who directed and wrote the story, says the thread of Vengeance of Meenakshi struck him years ago, during his maiden visit to Bengaluru.
“There, I witnessed a fight sequence on the road. A man, who was waiting in the traffic signal with his daughter, was hit by thugs. I was new to the city. I couldn’t do anything but watch it. The girl tried to stop the goon but he lifted her with his hands,” recalls Ronnie, who has used a similar shot in his movie. More than the hurt caused to the man, it was the girl’s sadness that hit Ronnie’s mind. Hence, he took the child’s point of view for Vengeance of Meenakshi. “After the incident, I thought what would have been that child’s feelings during that time and after that?”
This story remained dormant in Ronnie’s mind until his friend Josekutty Joseph (cinematographer) approached him to do a short film as part of the latter’s film studies. The subject resurfaced and Ronnie started working on it. The first story was about a father and daughter. Later, he replaced the father character with the peon, whom he picked up from a column that appears in a Malayalam publication. Ronnie has a story behind the christening of the film, which was first titled as Vengeance of Rukmini.
“At first, another girl came to enact the child’s role. She was not quite comfortable with acting and was not willing to continue after the first day’s schedule. Then, Meenakshi (real name) came on board. I first met her during a vacation camp held at Labour India School. I was there to take a class and had seen her acting. She was happy to be a part of this project and gracefully did the role. We rechristened the movie to Vengeance of Meenakshi, out of our love for Meenakshi and her performance,” says Ronnie.
