Scribbles on Akka
Scribbles on Akka is a contemporary speculation on the 12th century saint-poet Mahadevi Akka. In this film her ‘devotional’ poems, written with the female body as a metaphor and desire as a vocabulary, have been composed in contemporary musical language and picturised on the terrain of the 20th century feminist discourse.
Mahadevi, famed as Akka - elder sister, had abandoned clothing while leaving the domestic arena in search of God. The film explores the meaning of this denial through the works of contemporary artists and writers. Testimonies of women devotees - who had nurtured as well as made myriad interventions into the image and the idea of Akka through their folklores, oral literature and lived-in practices – influence the film to remain open-ended.
A celebration of rebellion, feminity and legacy down nine hundred years.
Awards
National Award for best anthropological film (returned in protest against cultural terrorism in India), Best Script award in Shanghai international film festival, IDPA (Indian Documentary Producers Association) award.