Tamil creativity has been at an all-time high the past few years with artists across the diaspora propelling forward the collective talent of the community. From the likes of Lara Rajagopalan who is making a name for herself in the Korean pop scene to Leslie Suganandarajah who was appointed the Orchestra Director of the prestigious Salzburg Landes theatre in Austria - there’s much to marvel in how far we’ve come.
We sat down with one such Tamil talent who is paving the way for Tamil representation in Australian Cinema. The Disposables is an Australian mystery, sci-fi TV series that centres around 16-year-old Tamil refugee Priya, who goes on a wild chase to find her dad who has disappeared under some supernatural circumstances. We sat down with the creator and director of the Disposables, Renny Wijeyamohan to find out more about the Disposables and his journey with creating the show.
This article follows the exploration of a sci-fi TV show in Australia with a Tamil-led cast and crew.
Could you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Renny Wijeyamohan and I’m an Australian-born Tamil writer/director based in Sydney. I actually used to be a lawyer (classic Tamil pathway there haha), but I realised I wasn’t terribly passionate about it, so I quit and kind of fell into the film industry. It all happened very quickly and organically. Now I am directing projects for TV in Australia!
Some of your previous work has been around directing documentaries, commercials and music videos. Is this your first piece of Tamil content? If so, what prompted you to dive into this space?
Yes – my background when I first started in the film industry was advertising content and music videos. I got an ARIA Nomination (Australian version of the Grammy's) for my first ever music video way back in 2014. That felt like a bit of a nudge from the universe saying “this is where you need to be”. A lot of that kind of work is very client driven and it’s not until I got into the world of long form storytelling in the last few years, that I really had a chance to dig into my Tamil cultural roots – and that’s a big part of the story behind The Disposables.
Could you tell us a little bit about the Disposables?
Sure! The Disposables is an action-adventure for teens with a Stranger Things-style feel. The story follows Tamil teen (and refugee) Priya. When her dad, Sri, goes missing the night before a crucial visa interview, Priya and her best friend, Obi, race against time to find out what happened. They discover a government conspiracy, a terrifying monster on the loose and that she and Sri are the only ones who can save the community – all the while making it back in time to make their visa hearing!
Disposables has a very memorable storyline weaving in themes of displacement, mystery, sci-fi and thriller. What were your inspirations and thoughts for creating such a storyline for this series?
My parents arrived in Australia from Sri Lanka in 1983. They were one family – amongst the wave of Tamil migrants who fled Sri Lanka for Australia, the UK and Canada after the horrific events of Black July. Even though I was born in Australia, my parents’ story and the Tamil struggle have always been important to me. I often asked myself – “why was I so lucky to be born in a safe place” when so many weren’t? That social justice angle, and the disparity between the “haves” and the “have-nots” has always been important themes in my work. At the time we were creating The Disposables, there were national headlines about the Australian Government trying to deport a Tamil family (the Murugappans) from a country town called Biloela. We wanted to create a story around this messaging, that responded to real-world events, but also wrap it up into a fun package that kids would want to watch. That’s how the sci-fi/thriller approach was born. Whenever you are dealing with heavy themes, you need to be clever about how you present them so you can engage an audience without overwhelming them, and then take them on the journey with you.
Disposables seem to be shot uniquely in a stranger things style, whodunnit mystery, with the protagonist Priya vlogging her story live as it unfolds. Is there any particular reason why you chose this style of storytelling?
Absolutely! My co-producer, Karen Radzyner, and co-director, Sonia Whiteman (who are both super talented) are both mothers of teenage kids. They noticed that Stranger Things, was the first show in a long time that brought their kids out of the bedroom, off their phones and into the bedroom for a family viewing experience. We were also aware of new short-form viewing platforms like TikTok, where teenagers liked to connect and share content. We wanted to create something that also followed the screen vocabulary of social media where the viewer could unravel the mystery at the same time as the characters. This also informed the “vlogging” found footage approach, which we thought would be instantly immersive (think Blair Witch). The show is actually a first-of-its-kind dual release both on TV and also on TikTok for ABC in Australia!
Sumi, a Sri Lankan Tamil Australian is the lead of this show. How important was casting actors who were truly representatives of the lived experiences/roles of the leads?
I mean it was essential to have authentic casting for the lead role of Priya. That didn’t mean it was easy though, because numbers-wise, the Tamil community is still a small one and acting isn’t the most common career path! We were lucky to find Sumi through our casting agent and as soon as we watched her tape, we knew she was going to be Priya. Her family also had a unique story of how they arrived in Australia, spending time in India and going through a challenging period to receive their visas to live here. She tapped into her lived experiences in her performance.
What are your hopes for the future of Tamil representation in mainstream Australian media? Where do you feel it stands currently and what are your hopes for the future?
We’re having a bit of a watershed moment at the moment, certainly for South Asians in the film industry in Australia, and also more specifically for Tamils. There are a lot of projects that have been commissioned recently with a South Asian focus – particularly S. Shakthidaran’s groundbreaking plays Counting & Cracking and Jungle & The Sea at Belvoir. I’m also working on another huge project with Karen Radzyner, a UK-Australian co-production based on the adaptation of Shankari Chandran’s (a female Tamil-Australian author who won the Miles Franklin Award this year!) book, Song of The Sun God. Charithra Chandran from Bridgerton S2 fame has signed on to be the lead and Karen will be flying to London soon to hopefully close the deal on getting this project made.
Are the any pieces of content or media that touch upon Tamil culture or are directed by Tamil creatives that you find inspiring?
Also, Shakthidharan's plays and Shankari'S books 😊
How can our international readers check out the Disposables and what can we do to further support your work?
In Australia, The Disposables is streaming on ABC iView here as a mini feature (60 mins): https://iview.abc.net.au/show/disposables
You can also watch it on the @abczaus TikTok split up into 2 minute episodes!
To follow my work, I think the easiest way would be to follow me on Instagram - @rennyshoots and feel free to message me or reach out to connect. I would love to hear from my Tamil family from around the world
