It was no less than a battle for Kerala-based Dr Fathima Asla, or Paathu as she is affectionately known, which started just three days after her birth. She was given an Osteogenesis Imperfecta or brittle bone condition diagnosis, but that didn’t deter her.
Despite their financial hardships, her parents supported her academically and assisted in her pursuit of a medical degree. Fathima is now an efficient doctor with 65% disability and has also penned an autobiography detailing her differently abled-life.
Fathima made peace with her condition and was living a blissful married life with her husband Feroze until she paid a visit to the theatre to watch the latest Prithviraj Sukuraman film Kaduva. The film, which is facing a lot of backlash for its insensitive dialogue towards differently abled persons, left her rattled. She came back from the movie and wrote a Facebook post where she described the emotional impact the particular dialogue in the film had on her.
In her post, Fathima wrote, “Watched Kaduva yesterday. When Firoze had gone to buy the tickets, I sat in my wheelchair, looking at the stairs to the theatre and thinking that if only the theatre was considerate enough to build a ramp, I would not have needed help. Just as I was getting over it, there came the mass dialogue “Disabled children are born as a result of the sins parents commit”.
“I remember someone had once even told me that my disability was because of my sins from a previous life. Felt shattered and scared at how insensitive people can be with words, without realising the impact it has on people like us. I know it is just a movie but some words hit hard”.
Fathima’s post has been widely shared on Facebook, with people reiterating her statement. Meanwhile, amid the backlash, director of Kaduva Shaji Kailas and lead actor Prithviraj Sukumaran have issued apologies for the dialogue and have promised to soon omit the dialogue from a re-edited cut of the film.
