The story went viral in 2019 when Sreedharan mourned the death of his Umma (mother, Zubeidaa) through a Facebook post.
Zubeidaa and her husband Haji Abdul Aziz had three kids of their own, but they never treated their adopted children any less.
Films such as A Holy Conspiracy, Gotro and Dostojee among others have represented friendship, love and selflessness on screen. It doesn’t happen very often that a south film with no megastar and world-class VFX attracts audiences to cinema halls in north India. But this happened last Friday when a small-budget Malayalam film was screened at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi and for some, this was “the only story of Kerala.”
Siddik Paravoor’s directorial Ennu Swantham-Sreedharan is based on the real-life story of a Muslim couple from Kalikavu village in Kerala’s Malappuram district who brought up the three children- Sreedharan, Ramani and Leela of her Hindu domestic help after her sudden demise. Although Zubeidaa and her husband Haji Abdul Aziz had three kids of their own they never treated their adopted children any less. Since then, she never forced them to follow Islam and allowed them to practice all Hindu rituals without any hindrance.
The 90-minute film was screened with English subtitles at the theatre. It moved many to tears present inside the auditorium and the real Sreedharan, the favourite child of Zubeidaa was also present.
The story went viral in 2019 when Sreedharan mourned the death of his Umma (mother, Zubeidaa) through a Facebook post. It was then that people beyond Kalikavu came to know about Zubeidaa’s love that flows beyond “blood.”
“When I shared the news of my umma’s (mother’s) passing, some of you had doubts… Having kids of their own did not stop them from taking us in. They had three kids. Even though they adopted us at a young age, they did not try to convert us to their religion. People say that an adoptive mother can never match up with one’s biological mother. But she was never an ‘adoptive mother’ to us, she was truly our mother,” read his post.
When director Siddik Paravoor first heard about Zubeidaa through a social worker, he was deeply moved by her story. He also shared that he wanted to bring her story to the attention of a huge audience and wanted to let them know that there are people who live like this.
“People who put love and kindness over religion and prejudices,” he said.
The film was screened in collaboration with Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) and Janasamskriti (socio-cultural organisation) in the national capital
Ennu Swantham-Sreedharan premiered on January 9, this year, at Vanitha Theatre in Kochi’s Edapally and was also hailed by Congress senior leader Shashi Tharoor who called it a “Heartwarming Tale.”
