4-5 May, 2013
Ejaz Ali Auditorium, Nagarpalika, Bijnor
आम लोगों के बीच सिनेमा के माध्यम से बदलाव की चेतना को ले जाने की अपनी सांस्कृतिक मुहिम के क्रम में ‘अवाम का सिनेमा’ ने इस बार बिजनौर की ऐतिहासिक धरती को चुना है। यहां आगामी 4-5 मई को कवि दुष्यंत कुमार की स्मृति में बिजनौर फिल्म फेस्टिवल का आयोजन किया जा रहा है जिसमें कुछ युवा फिल्मकारों की बेहतरीन फिल्मों का प्रदर्शन किया जाएगा।
हिंदी जगत के साथ बिजनौर का रिश्ता सबसे मज़बूती से जोड़ने का काम कवि और शायर दुष्यंत कुमार ने किया था। वे इसी जिले के राजपुर नवादा गांव में पैदा हुए थे। आज चाहे सिनेमा हो या आंदोलन, हर जगह कवि दुष्यंत कुमार की गज़लें उनकी मौत के तीन दशक बाद भी लोगों की ज़बान पर चढ़ी हुई मिलती हैं। यह वर्ष कवि दुष्यंत कुमार का अस्सीवां जन्मवर्ष है और अवाम का सिनेमा बिजनौर फिल्म फेस्टिवल को उनकी स्मृति में समर्पित कर के गौरवान्वित महसूस कर रहा है।
दुष्यंत की इंकलाबी ग़ज़लों की परंपरा को अगर हमारे समय में किसी ने भी आगे ले जाने का काम किया है, तो निर्विवाद रूप से उनमें बल्ली सिंह चीमा का नाम सबसे आगे आता है। ‘ले मशालें चल पड़े हैं लोग मेरे गांव के’ नामक गीत आज पहाड़ से लेकर समुद्र तक देश में चल रहे जल, जंगल और ज़मीन के तमाम आंदोलनों का केंद्रीय प्रेरणा गीत बन चुका है। बल्ली दा के हाथों इस फिल्म महोत्सव का उद्घाटन अपने आप में दुष्यंत कुमार को एक श्रद्धांजलि होगी।
यह फिल्म उत्सव जिस दौर में हो रहा है, भारत के सत्ता तंत्र ने आम लोगों के सामने नई और कठिन चुनौतियां पेश कर रखी हैं। प्रतिरोध के स्वरों को या तो दबा दिया जा रहा है या फिर सत्ता उन्हें अपना गुलाम बना ले रही है। संस्कृति के मोर्चे पर हालत यह है कि कॉरपोरेट पूंजी और मुनाफे से चलने वाला मीडिया व सिनेमा जनता की चेतना को और कुंद किए दे रहा है। किसान, मजदूर, आम मेहनतकश के बीच चौतरफा पस्तहिम्मती का आलम है। अगले लोकसभा चुनाव के बाद आने वाले दिनों में देश की तस्वीर कैसी होने जा रही है, इसका सिर्फ अंदाज़ा ही लगाया जा सकता है। ऐसे कठिन वक्त में दुष्यंत और बल्ली दा की कविताएं जोर-जुल्म से टक्कर में सडकों पर दो-दो हाथ करने का हौसला आम मेहनतकश को देती हैं।
दुष्यंत कहते हैं, ”मेरी कोशिश है कि ये सूरत बदलनी चाहिए”, लेकिन सूरत बदलने के लिए क्या ज़रूरी है उसका जवाब बल्ली दा ने अपनी एक मशहूर ग़ज़ल में दिया है- ”तय करो किस ओर हो तुम तय करो किस ओर हो, आदमी के पक्ष में हो या फिर आदमखोर हो।” बिजनौर फिल्म उत्सव का उद्देश्य एक ऐसे सांस्कृतिक विकल्प का निर्माण करना है जो आदमी के पक्ष में और आदमखोरों के खिलाफ खड़ा हो, जो सिर्फ हंगामा खड़ा करने के बजाय सड़क से लेकर संसद तक समूची सूरत को बदलने का संघर्ष करता हो। हमारी कोशिश होगी कि फिल्मों, डाक्यूमेंटरी, पोस्टर और कला के विभिन्न माध्यमों के जरिये मौजूदा ज्वलंत सवालों को समझा जाए।
‘अवाम का सिनेमा’ चार और पांच मई को बिजनौर के सभी जनपक्षीय जनसरोकारी लोगों को इस फिल्म फेस्टिवल में आमंत्रित करते हुए हर्ष का अनुभव करता है। हमारा विश्वास है कि बदलाव की कोई भी प्रक्रिया लोगों को साथ लेकर ही आगे बढ़ सकती है। हमें उम्मीद है कि बिजनौर के अमनपसंद लोग हमारे विश्वास को बनाए रखेंगे।
The Man Who Moved The Mountain/Kundan Ranjan/26Min.
Synopsis: The Man who broke the mountain- Baba Dashrath Manji,a simple frail Bihari, was like any ordinary labourer eking out a meagre living from back-breaking work until an accident befell his family. His wife , who had to climb across a mountain, literally travel miles in order to collect water for drinking and cooking fell and broke the matka and also lost her life in the process. It was the most telling moment of Baba Dashrath Manji’s life. He realised that if a road was cut across the mountain, these sort of tragedies could well be avoided. He knew that petitioning the government would be to no avail. So he endeavored to undertake the phenomenal act himself. Painstakingly cutting the centre of the mountain down to size in a chisel and hammer career that lasted for 22 odd years. At the end of it, he had managed to carve a rough road of 1 km length between two villages which were seperated by a mountain width of over 80n kms. The village and the world around him recognised his incredible feat but his family remained impoverished. When he was offered a house by the state government of Bihar, he asked them whether the offer was only for him or for his entire village. Within days the state governmenmt allotted 22 houses for the whole village. His family’s grouse is that he never asked for anything for them. But Manji’s counter is that the whole state is his home and every child within is his child. So how can he ask for anything just for a few members of his family.
But this is something that can never be redressed. Great people almost always are known to have neglected their families. Baba is no different. But Baba could not be reigned in even after completing his most incredible feat. He next decided to build a brifdge over the river that cost his villagers their lives when in spate. For this purpose he walked 1100 miles all the way to Delhi, along the railway tracks in order to get the central government to sanction money for the bridge. The central government was humbled into acquisence. But Baba did not live long enough to fulfill all his dreams. He wanted to create a resource centre for granting jobs to the youth from the state. Baba Manji’s dream may remain unfiulfilled but his single most path-breaking feat will remain in the hearts and minds of his villagers for years to come!
The Vehicle With the Soul of a Man/Balaka Ghosh/19Min.
Synopsis: In the Himalayas, at a height of 4000 metres, one of the holiest places of Hinduism is located: Kedarnath, or Shiva’s grave. Every year, thousands of pilgrims visit this place, but the road to the sanctuary leads along a narrow path that rises very steeply for fifteen kilometres. Most pilgrims literally have themselves carried up the mountain. There are two kinds of sedan chairs: the dandi with four bearers and the pitthu with a single bearer who carries the pilgrim in a basket on his shoulders.
Ram Bahadur is one of these pitthu bearers, hauling up pilgrims six months a year like a human vehicle, in order to earn enough money for the whole year. His slow upward gait looks like a religious ritual and is shown without any comment or interviews, but with solemn background music. A visual account of a serene trip that is made silently through a gorgeous stretch of unspoilt nature.
Swaraj (The Little Republic)/ Anwar Jamal/90Min.
Synopsis: The film is about a small village community in Rajasthan, India, where not only the low castes but even the women have little say in the affairs of the village. Four strong-willed women come forward through the democratically elected panchayats (village councils) to change the way their lives are run by the patriarchs of the community. It is a microcosm of democratic process, a parable for the world today.
My Body My Weapon/Kavita Joshi/11Min.
Synopsis: Irom Sharmila is a young woman of Manipur who has been on a fast-to-death for nearly 7 years now. She has been demanding the removal of a brutal law from her land. Manipur is a north-east Indian state (bordering Myanmar), riven for decades by insurgency and armed separatist movements. The Government of India has attempted to control the situation militarily, granting drastic powers to the security forces. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act enforced in the region lets people be arrested, shot and even killed – on suspicion alone. But Sharmila is willing to stake everything – even her life – to restore justice and dignity to her people.Floating Lamp of the Shadow Valley/Harry Bal, Rajesh S. Jala/64Min
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Synopsis: More than 80,000 dead, over 350,000 driven away from their homes, more than one million mentally disabled and over 400,000 security officers. This is the sad state of affairs in Kashmir, the much-disputed province on the border of India and Pakistan. The rigid opening statement of this otherwise hopeful portrait contrasts sharply with the almost idyllic scenes that follow: the gorgeous scenery of the region, delicate and robust at the same time, and a nine-year-old boy who canoes up and down the lake as a ferryman. The boy’s life story is less idyllic, a voice-over tells us. He lives with his three little brothers, sister and mother in a small hut on the bank of the river. Arif talks candidly about his situation. The conflict over Kashmir does not only play a role in the background of this film – sometimes, it affects Arif’s life directly. His father was one of the fighters (terrorists, Arif calls them), and on his way to his aunt’s house, he witnesses some bloody fighting. And he does not escape the devastating earthquake in 2005, either: his house sustains heavy damages. Nevertheless, Arif keeps on working imperturbably on a better future for his mother, brothers and sister.
Charandas Chor (Charandas the Thief)/ Shyam Benegal/156 min
Synopsis: The film is derived from a classic folk tale, originally narrated by Vijaydan Detha, and interpreted as folk play by Habib Tanvir. The film charts the tumultuous life of a petty thief, Charandas (Lalu Ram). Curiously he is a man of principles – an honest thief with a strong sense of integrity and professional efficiency. He makes four vows to his Guru, that he would never eat in a gold plate, never lead a procession that is in his honour, never become a king and never marry a princess, thinking all of them are far out possibilities for him. Later, his guru adds a fifth one – never to tell a lie and sets him of on his life’s journey which leads him to a kingdom, where the turn of events make him famous, and eventually he is offered the seat of political power which he has to refuse. Later, the local princess (Smita Patil) gets enchanted by him, and proposes to marry him. This is when his refusal costs him his life. As he is put to death, he illustrates the inherent paradox in human existence, where truthful existence becomes an impossibility, for the truthful and the accidentally truthfuls, alike.
Little Terrorist/Ashvin Kumar/15 min
Synopsis: The movie revolves around Jamal (played by Salim), a 10 year old Pakistani Muslim boy. While playing cricket near the Indo Pakistani border, the cricket ball is tossed over to the Indian side of the border separated by a fence.
Jamal crosses the fence to fetch the ball. He is however spotted by the Indian security forces and shot at. He hides in an Indian village where he is provided shelter by Bhola (Sushil Sharma), a devout Hindu Brahmin. Both Bhola and his niece, Rani (Megnaa Mehtta), are sceptical about allowing a Muslim boy in their home.
However, when the security forces come looking for Jamal in the village, he is protected by Bhola and Rani. Jamal does manage to return to Pakistan in the end.
MOMBATTI/ Puneet Prakash/ 21M 30Sec.
Synopsis: The film tries to take you in the life of the family of an ignored policeman who died in the line of duty.Pintu, a 10-year-old boy from a small village in the interiors of India takes his father, a policeman as a hero. He dies in a confrontation with Naxalites.
He is very disappointed when he sees on television how the Shaheeds of 26/11 attacks in Mumbai are given respect and their families are honored while his family and father are being ignored by the society and the system.
What will Pintu do? Will he come to the terms with the ignorance of the society for his family’s sacrifice, will he fight back or will he do something that no body ever expected from a 10-year-old boy. It is the story of innocence, determination, courage and growing up of Pintu.
My Friend Heera/ Amit Gupta/ 19 min 58 sec
Synopsis: Set in one of the villages of the North Indian Plains, the film takes us beyond the boundaries of inter-human relationships. Rahee, the protagonist of the film, is a seven year old boy who is no different from the other village boys of his age. Sometimes it is his mischievousness that puts him at bay with the villagers, other times it is his excellence that makes his friends envy of him. Also his carefree nature quite often lands him in trouble at home too. Finally he finds solace in Heera, a mango tree stood at some distance from his home. Friendship with Heera takes Rahee onto a journey where he gets the chance to interact with Nature. He experiences the moments he had remained untouched with, almost like everyone, despite living in the same surroundings. Gradually their friendship develops into an inseparable bond, inspiring the other village boys to join them. But Time had some other plans to disclose. The arms of love that had stretched further to spread its warmth get chopped off. Practicality wins over sentiments. Heera dies, leaving behind his memories to live up with. But this does not stops Rahee from growing further. His progressive step towards life becomes the real crux of the whole film.
For queries contact:
Shah Alam
(Cinema Activist)DIRECTORATE OF FILM FESTIVALS320 SARYU KUNJ DURAHI KUWAAYODHYA-224123 (UP)www.awamkacinema.org+91 9454909664
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