Two years ago, Shalini Balasundaram gave us her debut film, Geethaiyin Raadhai, which ended up a major hit among the Malaysian audience.

Now she’s back with another movie, Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey (TPT), a heavier venture compared to her romantic debut film. TPT centres around theft and robbery and why it’s plaguing Malaysian Indians.

But what inspired her to write such a script? Turns out, Shalini Balasundaram has experienced theft and robbery at least 3 times in her life.

“When I was six years old, my house was broken into. They broke in through the window. Since then, I developed a fear for windows. I also became afraid of the dark,” Shalini confessed during the TPT audio launch.

“I was 19 years old and on the phone with my mother. She was on her way to visit my grandfather in the hospital. And then I heard a cry – and it’s a sound I cannot forget until today. They snatched my mom’s thali,”

“And then I was 21 years old, then our house got robbed again. I witnessed the whole thing. At that time, I had just completed writing Geethaiyin Raadhai and we were about to start shooting. My mom lost everything in that robbery, everything she saved for me. My fiancé was there too – but he couldn’t do much because everyone was armed,”