'Mail Runner' makers contributing to database on forgotten messengers

Makers of "Oattathoodhuvan-1854" (Mail Runner), which pays homage to the Indian mail runners or dak runners - precursors of present day postmen -are now helping preserve their legacy by contributing important historical facts about the messengers to databases online.

Mail runners criss-crossed remote corners of India on foot to deliver messages during British rule and brought important news from neighbouring villages.

Set in 1854, Tamil film "Mail Runner" was screened at the 21st Kolkata International Film Festival in the Indian Select section.

It talks about one mail runner Madheshwaran who works under the British East India Company and faces a moral dilemma about delivering a document that may destroy his homeland.

While researching for the 125-minute film, director Chidambaram and lead actor Ram Arun Castro encountered extreme lack of data on the mail runners.

"Around 30 percent of the data we got from a mail runner enthusiast and the rest by talking to mail runners. So we are providing all the research material we have to online databases such as Wikipedia, blogs and other sites," Ram told IANS here.

Ram and other members who contributed to the film pooled in their resources when their producer backed out.

"They had to face all sorts of risks, hazards and hardships in carrying mails through jungles, terrains and deserts. In the process, they encountered wild animals, bandits and risked their lives.

"We wanted their story to be told through the film," Ram said, adding that mail runners still connect people in the Himachal hills bordering Tibet and in Tamil Nadu as well.

Shot in the hilly regions of Tamil Nadu, "Mail Runner" is a tribute to the runners who at times walked 20 kms in a day and are now a forgotten entity in the age of smartphones and satellite communication, added Ram.