Kili chronicles

Sudarson Sah, known as the Birdman of Chennai, takes us through personal stories behind the shots of Meiyazhagan and his experiences of parenting and feeding birds and animals

- SONU M KOTHARI

NNA ma kili paaka vanthirukiya? (Are you here to look at the parrots?). As you enter Iyya Mudali Street in Chintadripet, more often than not, you encounter this question. Any visitor answering 'yes' and seeking directions is led to the street's end to door no. 2. Built in a traditional style of architecture with colonial influences - evenly spaced windows and doors, supportive columns, and sloped tiles, this is home to two adults and hundreds of birds and is frequented by 50 stray cats and dogs and about 150 goats. The nameplate on the door reads 'M.Sah residence'. Sudarson Sah, the Birdman of Chennai, resides here. The 53-year-old animal lover has been feeding soaked rice and raw peanuts to thousands of parrots on this house's terrace for 15 years. Anyone who has watched the late September-released Tamil movie Meiyazhagan, would have been mesmerised by the shot of several green-winged birds making their way to a terrace, neatly lined with morsels of food. The protagonist, Arvind Swamy's Arulmozhi Varman, is inspired by Sudarson, whose passion caught director C Prem Kumar's eye.

"Prem sir followed my work for over a year on social media. Inspired, he approached me in December 2023," shares Sudarson.

Real to reel