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Director Ajai Vishwanath explained that the motive behind creating and telling the story of ‘Starch’ was to highlight the experiences his parents went through when they immigrated to Australia, and the difficulties they faced.
As a viewer, it was amazing to hear from actors Gayatri Bahl and Vandit Bhatt that they were not native Tamil speakers, as it would have never been obvious to the audience with their linguistic prep. Vishwanath also spoke about his conscious choice to have the short film be done completely in Tamil, and not add in English or Hindi.
The subliminal messages of Bahl’s character drinking rice water starch, as well as stealing a grocery cart to use as a stroller spoke to Vishwanath’s goal of demonstrating the sacrifices immigrant parents make when they move to a new country, especially if they don’t have the money to buy a lot of food or resources.
