Photo/Illutration Noriko Inagaki in Tokyo (Photo by Takeshi Narabe)

A former recluse, or “hikikomori,” who found motivation in Bollywood films, now is paying it forward by bringing one of her favorite Indian movies to the big screen in Japan.

“I believe the film will give some people, like me, an encouraging push on the back,” Noriko Inagaki said of “Madras Beats.”

In the late 1990s, Inagaki was having a difficult time. Immediately following the end of Japan’s asset-inflated economic boom, she had been laid off as a judicial scrivener at three offices in a row.

After that, she began to fear venturing outside by herself.

Luckily, an acquaintance recommended the Indian movie “Muthu” to Inagaki some six months later.

She was knocked out by the “blazing smile” of the film’s protagonist, a chubby man who works under a landowner. The character somehow gave Inagaki, now 53, the courage to escape her life as a social recluse.

“I laughed so much,” recalled Inagaki. “I started feeling like going outside to work and watch films.”

Transitioning back into society, Inagaki visited India on vacation to see more movies and tour film locations.

Inagaki first encountered “Madras Beats” at the 2018 Tokyo International Film Festival. Its main character chases his dream of becoming a “mridangam” drum performer despite difficulties involving the nation’s caste system.

She started selling DVDs of the movie in 2020 at a southern Indian restaurant in Tokyo that she runs with her husband, Tomihisa. As many as 200 copies flew off the shelves during the COVID-19 pandemic, quadruple the usual sales.

Inagaki emailed the film’s director, Rajiv Menon, and told him that many fans in Japan were waiting for the movie to be screened here. His reply suggested that Inagaki buy the rights to show the movie herself.

Purchasing the film’s screening rights did not cost much. Inagaki raised more than 1.5 million yen ($10,450) through a crowdfunding campaign to cover expenses for a venue to show the film at a preview and other purposes.

“Madras Beats” hit the theaters last year and is still showing across Japan.

Now, each time Inagaki visits a screening venue and makes an introductory speech on stage, fans thank her for having “made the movie accessible.”

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