Her name is Riya. She is eight years old. Though she is only eight, she can speak and sound like an adult. She is a feisty spirit. She gazes at her beloved, reproachfully with her outstretched wing. She is a blue and yellow macaw. She isn’t an ordinary parrot — she is a celebrity who played one of the leading roles in the upcoming film Panchavarnathatha, directed by Ramesh Pisharody.
Riya’s birthplace is unknown but she spent her early years in Kochi. By the time she reached the safe hands of Ranjith V.M., she was having troubles both mentally and physically. Slowly, she started to fly high again. She is not the only parrot that acts in the movie. Raju, a cockatoo, also stars in it. Riya and Raju share the screen along with actors Jayaram, Kunchacko Boban and Anushree.
Both are from Ranjith’s farm in Pala. “I have a collection of exotic parrots and some animals. Ramesh happened to see a picture of me carrying my parrots on Facebook. He grew curious about them and our friendship grew and he used to visit my farm regularly. When he decided to direct a film, he asked me if he can have my parrots in the film. Actually, the film is about a man and his pets. I could not say no and that’s how Riya and Raju got auditioned,” says Rajith.
When Ramesh announced the project in an event, he had mentioned the ‘hero’ of the movie would be a parrot named Riya. The film also features an elephant, horses, donkeys, a camel and nearly a hundred varieties of birds and an iguana. Says Ranjith, “Both Riya and Raju are very friendly. The first few days, they were not cooperative. I assumed it would be a difficult task for me to manage during the shoot ing as the twosome need time to get used to the ambience. Parrots are very emotional creatures and they can be depressed at times. So it was my job to keep them cool. But consciously or not, parrots and every other animal cooperated well.”
Ranjith says Riya is very intelligent. “She calls me achaa and greets me every day. She even identifies the sound of my vehicle. She is that smart,” he explains. During the shoot she was quite naughty too.
“Jayaram has prosthetic ear extensions in the film. Riya pecked off Jayaram’s prosthetic ear. And they had to spend another two hours to put it back again. She is there throughout the film.”
He says they are not legally allowed to make them perform, so they are just there in the background. Ranjith has almost 15 parrots with him now. He tames them and takes care of them. He also sells parrots.
“They are very rare and quite expensive. Each costs above Rs 1 lakh. When I started this business, nobody really thought this was a good idea. But I knew that there was a big market for these exotic birds and at present there are hundreds of dealers in Kerala. This has become a big business,” he adds.
