U.S.-based director plans film in State

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 28. The U.S.-based director, Mr. Jagmohan Mundhra, plans to shoot a film in the State.

At an Open Forum, held at the Sixth Trivandrum International Film Festival (TIFF-2001) here on Saturday, Mr. Mundhra said he was impressed by the State's achievements on various fronts.

His latest film, Bawandar (Sandstorm), inspired by the real-life struggle of a rape victim for justice, had opened the festival on Friday. "Bawandar is much more than a film to me. It was a mission. The woman, on whose life the work is based, lost the case. However, I wanted her to win in the court of public opinion. The film will do its bit to women's empowerment."

Asked why the former maker of erotic thrillers had changed track, Mr. Mundhra replied that he hated being stereotyped. "You might not remember that I had made an off-beat film, titled `Kamla', 15 years ago and lost my money. To support my family and earn money to learn the craft, I then made about 20 thrillers. Does making a thriller prevent you from handling a socially-relevant theme? Bawandar marks a U-turn in my career. It marks my return to the terrain from where I had started. It also records my search for my roots, an attempt to look at modern Rajastani, or Indian society, which I had left long ago."

While making the film, he said, he was fully aware that rape had nothing to do with sex and titillation, but humiliation, degradation and power. "The film is also about agendas -- of a few NGOs, social workers, politicians, lawyers and policemen."

Ms. Nandita Das, actress, said she was overcome by anger and frustration while acting in the rape scene.

"There were a lot of people watching the action. Though it was all acting, I could notice the smirks on some faces. What then would have been Bhanwari Devi's real-life travails? I met her and found a warm person with an amazingly quiet strength in her."

Ms. Das, currently working on a Tamil film, said she chose roles that enriched her as a human being.

She criticised the manner in which the media handled the gruesome murder of Phoolan Devi. "The media enjoyed it all through. It seemed as if the visuals and the description were from a thriller."

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Section  : Southern States
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