An Actuality Trip...
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| A sunrise at Telangana. |
It is only in Hyderabad that someone like Parushuram Singh
can sponsor a Biriyani and listen to the Telangana VS Seemaadra argument initiated
by someone like Upender Apparasu. If Parushuram had anything remotely to do
with any Government in India, in present times he could have initiated a case
of sedition against Upender. Elavarty Satya Prakash and I, who had wry smiles
on our faces during this discussion, would also be liable, then.
Fortunately, Praushuram and Upender are just two old
colleagues from the film world - local Hydrabadies. We were sitting in a cozy roof
top hotel at Hyderabad when we were having this discussion and after attending a
screening at Lamakaan of my recent film ‘Haale-Kangaal’ (The Bankrupts).
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| Lamakaan |
Lamakaan is a cultural hub in Hyderabad. Recently, there
were murmurs that it would be asked to shut down, allegedly due to parking
issues that were created when culture shows happened here. But a swift
signature campaign ensured that it stays, doing what it does the best –
providing a space for cultural expression which otherwise would not have been
heard.
It was originally built as a house. But the owner does not
stay there anymore. Exhibitions, stage shows, musical performances, film shows,
poetry recitations etc... are held instead. The venue is offered free for
anyone who does not charge the viewers.
There are four curators who manage the show – for four broad
disciplines. I was dealing with Sumanaspati Reddy, an employee of All India
Radio. Among other things, Sumanaspati curates film sections. He was introduced
to me by Elavarty Satya Prakash.
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| Satya Prakash's book on Cinema |
Satya Prakash is an Assistant Professor at the Sarojini
Naidu School of Communication dealing with the Documentary Course at the
University of Hyderabad. I was asked to conduct a small workshop for the
documentary course students.
Yes, when I went there, the students had just ended a
boycott of classes on the Rohit Vemula issue. Rohit had ended his life in a
most tragic way. The question of his Dalit identity was mentioned in his
suicide note. The students have alleged discrimination.
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| Shop Com at UOH |
Though the strike had ended, the protest was still on - so
was a whiff of counter protest. There was anger, sadness, anguish, confusion
and fear lurking around in the campus. A professor told me that there is no
chance to know who is a student, who is not; who is an informer and who is not.
In the evenings, after four, students gather around in the
shopping area, what is called the Shop Com. It is also the main area of the
Rohit Vemula protest. Apart from students, possible plainclothes policemen, watchmen,
stray animals, coffee cups and Karachi Biscuits, I also bumped into the likes
of Sheetal Sathe, Anand Patwardhan, Deepa Dhanraj and Navroze Contractor –
people of my ilk.
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| Rohit's selfie |
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student union president
Kannaiyya had just been arrested and there was considerable buzz around it. Was
the sedition charges applied on him really needed? Did he really shout those
anti-national slogans that the police and the press said he did? Was sedition
law, first used by the British to curb the freedom fighters, itself redundant
in present times?
There were fifteen Mass Communication students in the Documentary
Course. I led them to an actuality field trip to the Shop Com area as a part of
the workshop. Actuality field trips result in observations and structured
audio-visual scripts. The students were then sent with cameras to the same
area, so that they film and edit what they observe. It was stimulating; I did
the exercise myself. It was impossible to keep Rohit Vemula out of Shop Com –
for me as well as for the students.
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| Post 'BV Karanth: Baba' screening at UOH |
Satya Prakash and his Communication school also hosted the
screening of ‘Haal-E-Kangaal’ (The Bankrupts) at Lamakaan on the 14th
of February, 2016; along with another documentary of mine, ‘Lohit Diary’. The
previous day, on the 13th, I had a University level screening of ‘BV
Karanth: Baba’. My day was made when Satyabrata Rout, a long time student of BV
Karanth and presently a faculty at the Drama School at University of Hyderabad,
agreed with me that the film on Karanth was a portrayal of the
man himself seen as a metaphor and a myth.
Raj Kumar Roy was out student union leader
at FTII when we had gone on a strike against the rustication of a few students
way back in 1987. We had to leave for Mumbai and then head to Delhi – the very
second day of my joining of the course. We, the entire student body, stayed in
Delhi for almost a month. Roy was there till the end; he was someone we looked
upon for leadership.
Roy now teaches the Art of Films at Rama
Naidu Film School in Hyderabad. He was very keen to watch ‘Haal-e-Kangaal’. He
is also a keen student of Film History and therefore he also wanted his
students to see ‘BV Karanth:Baba’. On
the 10th, I had two back to back screenings of these films at the
film school at Jubilee Hills.
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| Raj Kumar Roy |
I was meeting Roy after twenty five years.
Roy was born in Benaras, he studied in Mumbai, Kolkatta and Pune. He has worked
in Delhi and Chennai. He was on the beaches of Tamil Nadu when the Tsunami hit
the state. After going through a series of health issues and a near death
experience, Roy is now heading the Direction Department at his film School. In
his resilience, he still inspires.
Roy, Rohit, Shop Com and Lamakaan – for me,
this was what the Actuality Trip to Hyderabad was all about.
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