Abhivyakti 2010 : first day at Ravi Bharati

“Gaon Chodab Nahin!” [We will not leave our villages] was the lilting tune that set the mood for Abhivyakti 2010 – the grassroots documentary festival from Bihar that celebrates subaltern expression. The short music based video by Meghnath and associates covered the core issues of displacement versus politically motivated development: the message was ‘we will not let go our villages, our forests, our mother earth or our struggle’ – a potent and poignant reflection on the harsh realities of our times, that made the students present at the festival sit up and think. The Seminar Whose Right? [supported by ACT India] kicked off the day's events, with Arundhati Roy's interview to CNN-IBN set he tone for debate, followed by the film Mine: Story of a Mountain.The formal inauguration of the festival followed.

Photo shows Vivek Singh addressing the participants at Abhivyakti 2010

“Films must be made to go beyond the obvious, and have relevance for the large body of ordinary viewers,” said Bihar Secretary of Arts, Culture and Youth Affairs Vivek Singh to a relatively young audience of college-going media students on Thursday. He was speaking at the inauguration of Abhivyakti 2010, the 9th Bihar Low Cost Videofest organized at Ravi Bharati Institute of Communication, Patna. He urged the filmmakers of tomorrow to make documentaries that stimulate and speak to audiences.

Director Ravi Bharati Fr Benny Moolan SJ said that one of the main objectives of the video festival was to encourage people of all ages, especially students who are interested in the media to become participatory, critical, and intelligent viewers of media messages. The grassroots videofestival therefore focusses on an exploration of various value systems in contemporary India. The festival has been organised since 1995, and was earlier known as the 'All Bihar VHS Videofest.'

[Students participated actively in the festival seminars and discussions]

The opening film was Mithila Sanskar Geet , directed by Shaker Dutt [producer Bihar Sangeet Natak Academy] which documented the traditional songs that accompany birth and marriage rituals in the Mithilanchal region of the state, several of these colourful practices have begun to disappear, gradually becoming extinct because of rapid urbanisation and migration which are unchecked demographic movements of our times.

[Patna Cine Society President and Director Bihar Film Development Corporation Rajendra Narayan Dash]

Debranjan Sarangi’s film on the Kandhamal carnage and its aftermath “From Hindu to Hindutva” presented the complex cultural, caste based, historical, political, religious and ideological divide in that remote region of Orissa, with tribals, non-tribals, Christians, Militant Hindus, Nature worshipping Tribals, stark poverty, and land rights issues.

[Young people questioned, debated, and critiqued issues - session on Whose Right? - featured Arundhati Roy's interview on CNN - The students expressed a general agrement that India has begun to look and act like a 'fake democracy']

The student films making the most impact on the first evening were Bridging The Gap [Shilpi Gulati and Shranaya Gautam, Media and Cultural Studies, TISS, Mumbai] – a film with animated symbols that made an appeal for holistic primary education, and Inside Out (Edited Version),[ Divya Cowasji, Shilpi Gulati] – which asked the question: How thin is the line of acceptable conduct for a woman in public, can she ever cross the line? Can a woman ever access public spaces as freely as a man? Other films shown and appreciated in the very short film category (under five minutes) were Dowry ‘Heavier Then Life’ , [Mehrazun Neesa Haque, Patna Women’s College], Hamara Adhikar [Kunal Kumar and Vikram Kumar, Advantage Media Academy, Patna] and Kisse Kahu, [Pankaj Kumar Jha, Manish Kumar, Samdarshi Priyam, Harikesh, AMA, Patna].

Abhivyakti 2010 Update

Abhivyakti 2010: Student Section

Films @ 5:45 pm on 30 April

Dowry ‘Heavier Then Life’ , English/Hindi, 5 mins, student project Patna Women’s College, Department of Communicative English with Media studies.
Director : Mehrazun Neesa Haque
This is a film about most important mal-practice ‘the dowry harassment’ in India.

Hamara Adhikar, Hindi, 2:30 mins, Post graduate student workshop project, Advantage Media Academy, Patna
Director, Camera Work, Editing, Script: Kunal Kumar and Vikram Kumar
This film raises the question about children, some who are getting everything at right time and the others who want education, but are left out.


Bridging The Gap, English/ Hindi, 3: 43 min, final group assessment for the M. A. degree in Media and Cultural Studies, TISS, Mumbai.

Director: Shilpi Gulati and Shranaya Gautam

The film looks at the importance of universal primary education as a part of millennium development goals. It stresses the importance of not just universal primary education but necessity of expanding the definition of primary education to include different kind of knowledge building processes. This should include assuring equal opportunities for all children according to their needs, capacity and ability.


Kisse Kahu, Hindi 2 min 16 sec, Post graduate student workshop project, Advantage Media Academy, Patna
Director, Camera Work, Editing, Script: Pankaj Kumar Jha, Manish Kumar, Samdarshi Priyam, Harikesh

Synopsis: The film focuses on the life of landless people and wishes to draw attention public towards this.

Inside Out (Edited Version),English, Hindi, 14:45 min, final group assessment for the M. A. degree in Media and Cultural Studies, TISS, Mumbai.
Director: Divya Cowasji, Shilpi Gulati

The film was born out of angst that even in the 21st century in a city as liberal and safe as Mumbai, women’s access to public space is limited and largely regulated to the sphere of purposefulness. But what happens when she just wants to be and how does she negotiate the patriarchal norms that constantly confine her. How thin is the line of acceptable conducts in public, can she ever cross the line? Can a woman ever access public spaces as freely as a man? The film also pleads for a need to experience the city purposelessly and in doing so, the need to reclaim the unfettered access to public space.

Films @ 5:45 pm on 1 May

Anmol Jeevan , Hindi, 2:30min, Post graduate student workshop project, Advantage Media Academy, Patna

Director, Camera Work, Editing, Script: Shilpi Kumari, Siya Mishra, Puja Kumari, Vidya, Ashutosh Kr

Human life is very precious, don’t waste it.

Where is Kishore?, English/Hindi, 6:30 min, final group assessment for the M. A. degree in Media and Cultural Studies, TISS, Mumbai.

Director, Camera Work, Editing, Script: Nikhil Titus, Shaira Shetty, Sneha Anand

Dharavi is often termed as Asia’s largest ‘slum’. The area is now slated for ‘redevelopment’ in an attempt to transform this valuable and large piece of real estate into high towers. The film explores the various spaces in Koliwada, Dharavi through the photographs taken by a young resident named Kishore who attended a photography workshop but did not attend the final workshop of the works. Through these pictures the film tries to put together a child’s image of little fishing village now surrounded by the city.

BANJAR MANN, Hindi, 5 Mins, Post Graduate student production, University Of Allahabad, Allahabad

Director : Tanushri

This music video represents the life of those women of Indian Society who are confronting with very hard struggle for lively hood. Though they perform all the tough tasks, they are always considered less then women. Everything is barren(banjar) for them but even knowing they perform their duties with full dedication.

352: Remembering Emergency, English/ Hindi, 17 min, final group assessment for the M. A. degree in Media and Cultural Studies, TISS, Mumbai.

Director, Camera work, Script: Sanjay Pratap, Ashwani Falnikar, Nandita Thomas, Nikhil Titus

In the largest democracy, ironically a period of 19 years is missing from public memory. It was during this period that internal emergency was instituted in India. The 17 minutes long film is critical look at this place that suspended fundamental rights for the common man and imposed harsh laws upon the media. Today, many of those measures are still looked upon as important for the development of the nation. The film is bundle of questions put across cartoons, archival materials and interviews.

Films @ 5:00 pm on 2 May

Suvarna, Hindi, 17min 40 sec, Student film post graduate production of National Institute of Design

Director: Rudro Bhandari,

Suvarna tells the story of a woman and her relentless pursuit of innocent desires. Set in the sleepy town of 1980’s Patna, a lonely lower middle class housewife, takes solace in her desire for fake jewellery. Her husband trying to make ends meet doesn’t mind his wife’s fetish until a series of unfortunate events reveals a bitter truth.

Unfulfilled Dreams, English, 2 mins, Post graduate student workshop project, Advantage Media Academy, Patna

Director, Camera work, Script: Nilima Mitra, Kehkashna Kuraishi, Shadab Mallick, Saurabh kumar, Dilkash

The film shows scenario of child labour how they are struggling and striving for food and shelter.


Mera Astitva, Hindi, 2 mins 9 sec, Post graduate student workshop project, Advantage Media Academy, Patna

Director, Camera work, Script: Anupam , Shivani, Ashwini

Synopsis: This is story of trees as told by them. This shows the importance of trees in our lives and how we have been destroying our saviors.

Beautiful People, Hindi, 3 :45 min, Amateur film, Class XI Mass Media student, Open School.

Film by: Manoj Kumar
Amateur music based video. It is an appeal to include all children including the disabled under the umbrella of education.


Children’s Show, Hindi, 22 mins, children’s workshop film by 24 kids aged 9 to 16 from Bihar Bal Bhawan, Kilkari.

This is a collection of short films made by children during a 10 day video workshop at Kilkari.

Abhivyakti 2010 : April 30 - May 2

The 9th Bihar  low cost videofest at Ravi Bharati, Patna encourages students and young people to express themselves on various aspects of  life with a focus on Human rights. Apart from some 20 videos by students and children on exhibit, Abhivyakti 2010 also features the following films:
.

Film: Mithila Sanskar Geet

A Film by Shankar Dutt, produced by Sangeet Natak Akedemi, Bihar

Mithila Sanskar Geet documents the geets and traditional cultural practices of Mithilanchal. These intangible practices are gradually becoming extinct because of rapid urbanisation and migration which are unchecked demographic movements of our times. The security of community life, bonding and togetherness of these cultural practices at birth and marriage are recreated in this documentary film produced by Bihar Sangeet Natak Akademi. [Duration 30 minutes, Language Hindi]

Film: From Hindu to Hindutva

Debaranjan Sarangi,

Pedestrian Pictures Language: Oriya with English Subtitles

Kandhmal violence has been the most ghastly communal violence in the Adivasi areas in India . Close to two years after the violence the tragedy of the area continues, the victims of violence, the rehabilitation, the justice to victims, most of these are no where close to what they should be.

Debaranjan Sarangi, a social activist and writer has effectively caught the Kandhamal carnage in his short but comprehensive film with great amount of sensitivity and objectivity. He presents the whole event with the help of field interviews, the shots of burning of houses and churches and the pathetic condition of the refugee camps. His subtitling and comments not only make the theme more understandable to non-Oriya audience but also connect up different aspects of the material presented by him. The commentary in the form of text is very coherent making the film a powerful analysis of the events of Orrisa. The director weaves the picture with great precision without intruding into the flow of events as told by the perpetrators of the crime and the victims of the same. [Oriya with English Subtitles Duration- 44 Minutes]

Film: ‘Morality TV aur Loving Jehad — Ek Manohar Kahani”, Paromita Vohra’s latest documentary, makes us laugh at our cultural hang-ups and horrified and angry at the same time. The film looks at the idea of love in the Hindi heartland from three different angles, and what we take home is a rueful smile and a head full of questions.

 In December 2005, Hindi TV channels “broke” the story of police action against couples in Meerut’s Gandhi Baug. Meerut is known as a TRP city. In December 2005, when the police invited TV channels to the Gandhi Baug party to see how they ferreted out, slapped, abused and humiliated couples sitting or walking in the park, the channels came with pleasure, tongues hanging out.

Who makes the police the arbiters of morality? Who is on their side — politicians? Parents? What do young people think of love and romance? Where does the phrase “Loving Jehad” come from? [Language: Hindi duration 29 minutes]

film: Do Din ka Mela

“Nothing in the world will last – it is but a two-day fair,” sings Mura Lala Fafal, drawing inspiration from the Sufi traditions of Sant Kabir and Abdul Lateef Bhita'i. He is accompanied on the jodiya pava (double flute) by his nephew, Kanji Rana Sanjot. Kanji taught himself to play and make his own flutes after hearing the music on the radio. Mura and Kanji are Meghwals, a pastoral Dalit community that lives on the edge of the Great Rann of Kutch, in the Western Indian state of Gujarat. They are daily wage labourers and subsistence farmers in an arid zone. Do Din Ka Mela, which the filmmakers describe as “an attempt to represent and interpret the rich musical traditions of Kutch and their connection to the rhythms and textures of everyday life”, is a two-day journey into the music and everyday life of this uncle-nephew duo, set against the backdrop of the Rann.

Filmmakers Anjali Monteiro and K. P. Jayasankar are Professors at the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. [Language Kutchi and Gujarati with English subtitles. Duration 60 minutes]

Film: Arzoo

Arzoo is the story of a young woman, compelled by circumstances to go to the Shah Alam Refugee Camp in Ahmedabad for six months post Gujarat Communal Riots of 2002. There she works as a volunteer and soon discovers the emotional wounds that lie buried below the surface. The film depicts the struggle and resilience of a young woman fighting for her beliefs against all odds. The film maker Shashi Ghosh Gupta is an alminus of XIC, Bombay. Over the years she has assisted in many film and television projects. [language Hindi, Gujarati, subtitles: English. Duration 26 minutes]

Film: Khadaan

Children’s stories from the stone quarries of Bihar. A film by Blaise Pascal , Produced by REAP. [Hindi, 26 minutes]

Abhivyakti 2010

Preparations are on for Abhivyakti 2010

The grassroots video festival that celebrates low cost films on the one hand, and brings to Patna audiences the work of established documentary film makers will begin on April 30. It has always been a modest and unpretentious effort, but one not missed by those who want to experience the 'reality' of subaltern India.

We're still in the process of inviting exhibits to the festival. This year we will have films by Anjali & Jayashankar, Paromita Vohra, Arun Gupta and many more.


This year, there is a special screening of films in the people's domain as part of a segment on the importance of cyberspace in the struggle for ensuring the right to free expression.

Films made by children, media students, and amateurs form an important part of the three day festival. Students in Patna will be interested to watch a short film on Bihar by  Prof Shankar Dutt.

Remembering Anu on her Second Death Anniversary

A husband, who happens to be a Parsi Maoist, remembers his activist wife. An excerpt from a book that is being wriiten by Kobad Ghandy from Tihar Jail:

On April 12, 2008 a beautiful life got suddenly extinguished. Anuradha Ghandy passed away at the young age of 54 due to the late detection of the killer disease, falciperum malaria. On that day, the Indian people, particularly its oppressed women, lost a blooming flower that spread its fragrance in many parts of the country. Two years is a long time, yet the fragrance lingers on. The sweet scent like from an eternal blossom, intoxicates the mind with memories of her vivacious and loving spirit.

Even here, in the High Risk Ward of Tihar jail, the five sets of bars that incarcerates us, cannot extinguish the aroma that Anu radiates in one's memories. The pain one suffers here seems so insignificant, compared to what she must have faced on that fateful day.

I still remember the first day I met her, way back in mid 1972. The sparkle and brightness that radiated from her childlike face, never dimmed through all the torturous years of struggles and enormous sacrifice. The same bubbly spirit, the same dynamism, and the same active and sharp mind of youth, remained till the very end.

The purity of her soul, her deep commitment to the oppressed, never allowed her to be weighed down by any kind of hardship physical or mental. That is why the wear and tear of life could not extinguish her youth and exuberance. It was only the deadly and incurable systemic sclerosis which struck her in 2002 that suddenly resulted in her ageing overnight.

Though her face grew drawn, she never allowed the disease to destroy her spirit. The fire for a full life, in the service of the country and its people, did not diminish, even an iota. Till her very last day, from six in the morning to twelve at night she was continuously on the move meeting people, travelling, reading, writing and even cooking and cleaning herself. Though the disease was slowly eating away her organs her lungs, her kidneys, her heart and crippling her fingers, Anu knew no rest. Even her arthritic knees, which grew more and more painful, did not stop her climbing stairs, trekking days in the forests, and often being on her feet from morning to night.

Was it will power? Was it commitment? Yet, her exhaustion, her pain, never showed on her face; she never complained. And, to those meeting her, they could not realise what she was going through.

Anus life traversed many paths. She was a brilliant student at school, where the progressive and democratic atmosphere of her family played a key role in moulding her. It was in her college days she became a student activist and leader. In the post-emergency period, having by then become a lecturer, she became one of the leading human rights activists in the country. After moving to Nagpur in the early 1980s, not only did she become an All India face of the revolutionary cultural movement, she developed as Maharashtra's foremost
revolutionary personality in Nagpur/Vidarbha.


Together with her job as post graduate professor in Sociology, she became a well known militant trade union leader. She led many a workers' struggle and even went to jail a number of times. In addition, she became a popular face of the womens movement in the region. Together with this, she also had a deep impact on the
intelligentsia ; lecturers, students, lawyers, writers and social activists of Nagpur and Vidarbha.

But, most importantly her main impact was on the  Dalit movement in Vidarbha, particularly Nagpur. With her incisive knowledge of the dalit/caste question and her thorough study of Ambedkar's writings, she was able to effectively challenge the deeply entrenched Dalit leadership, with a scientific and Marxist nterpretation of the issue.

With Nagpur being the centre of the dalit movement, we shifted our residence to Indora the biggest dalit basti in Maharashtra. Her impact on dalit youth was enormous and she became a regular invitee at most Dalit functions. People of Nagpur fondly remember this senior professor, staying in dalit basti, cycling away throughout the city in the famous Nagpur blazing sun.

After Nagpur/Vidarbha Anu shifted to work amongst the most backward tribals, living in the forests amongst them, sharing their weal and woe. And finally, in her last six to eight years she focussed on the oppressed women of our country, educating them and arousing them for their emancipation and liberation from poverty.

Through all these ups and downs we were sometimes together, often apart for months. But, the time we got together were the most cherished periods of my life. Her fiercely independent thinking acted as a great help to rational understanding of events, people and issues. There was no other person with whom I have had as vehement debates. This normally brought a balance to my often one-sided views.

Anuradha had the rare ability to combine activism with theoretical insight. In spite of her day-to-night activities she was a voracious reader and prolific writer writing in English, Hindi and Marathi.

Though she wrote on many a topic, her writings on the dalit/caste question and womens issues have been important contributions to a scientific understanding of two very important societal aspects of India.

The same simplicity, straight forwardness... childlike innocence. Her face was a reflection of her emotions unable to lie, manipulate others or indulge in intrigue. Besides, her ability to bond with all from the simplest tribal to topmost intellectuals is indeed legendary. Anu had the beauty of innocence, yet maintaining the sharpness of intellect and dynamism of a professional. It is this combination that gives Anuradha her eternal fragrance.

Kobad Ghandy
Tihar Jail No.3

The other Tang

The air has a certain 'Tang' in it... that's what I've been subjected to over the past few days.

So, to put things straight [ahem!] here's a bit about the other Tang in my life....

the flavour of Ind-yeah

Move over Twenty twenty cricket, these guys don't pussyfoot around!

Even our Traditional Holy men need some vigorous exercise, and there's nothing as stimulating as football!

India is a colourful country, and these kids add colour to the atmosphere generously

Boys will be boys

Now, this Holy Roller is on the Hotline with You know who, reefer in one hand and errickshun in the other. The Grass is always greener on the other side of the Ganges, they say.

Blowing in the Wind

The Indian Media worked itself up to a frenzy after 74 Jawans were gunned down in the jungles of Chattisgarh, and several well-meaning and not-so-well meaning folks have asked me why I haven't written on the issue.

What's there to write about that hasn't been said already?

We've already expressed our collective shock, we've done our posturising and milked as much media mileage as possible from the incident, we've shed our crocodile tears and hardened our stand against all the 'so-called  liberals'.

That the Indian state continues to ignore the rights of the indigenous people, those in power have not stopped destroying everything in sight and subverting the laws of the land for their own greed. When the Constitution of India is being systematically and continually subverted to fill the coffers of the greedy few, a time will come when it will have no relevance, and that will be the time for civil strife.

A house divided against itself cannot stand, nor a State at war with its own people.

It’s chilling to see the beginnings of strife. More poor Jawans will be sent as cannon fodder against more poor tribal people, both groups being mere pawns in a blood soaked game of chess. The Maosists hold no real solutions, their ideology is flawed and vision stunted, on the other hand the promises of the State to the indigenous people are hollow and insincere. The Indian State is committed to the destruction of forests, mountains, rivers, seas, all in the name of ‘progress’, no matter which bunch of politicians are in power.

So what does one say? What goes round must come round.

Hang around folks, don’t panic at the first gust of wind, the tornado is yet to happen, and if we’re not taking note of the early warnings from the activists at ground zero, well, I guarantee we’ll just all be blown away by what’s going to happen next.

A tribal journalist''s questions

A tribal journalist asks a question, do we have an answer?

According to the Santal tradition, the first flower of the season is offered to the super natural God then only the community members are allowed to collect any kind of new forest produces. They jointly offer the first flower to their God in ‘Baha Parap’ (the festival of flower). Similarly, the Oraon celebrate ‘Khadi’ also known as ‘Sarhul’. The thanks giving tradition is found among all the Adivasi groups. Unfortunately, it was out of imagination for many of them this time.
Home Minister P Chidambaram’s gunmen (security forces) involved in the so-called ‘operation green hunt’ did not allow them to celebrate their auspicious festivals (Baha and Sarhul) in those villages, where the operation is being carried out. They were prevented from offering their thanks to the super natural God, they were stopped dancing together and they were also forbidden from having the community feast. What kind of operation is it?

Can one imagine what would have happened if the security forces would not have allowed the Hindus to celebrate the Ramnaumi, prevented the Muslims from organizing a procession in the Muharam and stopped the Christians to conduct the Easter Mass? Perhaps, there would have been some kind of communal riot, communal tension or at least the issue would have been made the national one. But no one knows about how the Adivasis were denied to practice their old age tradition and culture by the security forces as the so-called fourth realm (Media) of the democracy does not bother to report us about it.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Notes from my travels

Travelling through North Bihar at present.

April 7th. Narkatiaganj. Champaran. The town reeks of the fumes given off by the nearby sugar factory. Owned by the Birlas, I am told. Also, the effluents from said factory run untreated into the local rivulet and have turned it into a stinking drain, but that’s another matter. The lodge I’m staying at provides electricity from six in the evening till midnight. Generator power. The regular kind is hardly supplied for 120 minutes a day, and when you discover that bulbs glow dimly and fans make strange noises but refuse to spin, you know that the government ‘line’ is functioning.

Bhikna Thodi. 25 kilometres from Narkatiaganj. One of the villages that are part of the Valmiki Tiger project. Four decades ago, a railway line ran through the village to Nepal across the river bed. Today there’s no railway line, but the signboard of the defunct railway cabin appears to have been recently painted. The eco task force in the village, or ‘ecology committee’ exists, but is functionless and directionless. There was a forest fire a couple of days ago, and the villagers worked hard to put it out. End of story. It was also mentioned that there’s no source of drinking water in the village, and that a major achievement of the panchayat is to ensure that a couple of tankers arrive in the village every two days, carrying potable water from Narkatiaganj. The only source of drinking water is a stream that lies across the riverbed in neighbouring Nepal. The Buddha is said to have spent some days at a well here, which is submerged somewhere in the river bed at present, say the locals.

Rampurva, Gaunaha Block. Site of a fallen Ashokan Pillar. Remote. Picturesque in its own way. Locals say that Bhim used these pillars to play gilli danda!

Bhitiharwa. Site of one of the Ashrams where the Mahatma stayed. Visited the family of the man who invited Gandhi to Champaran to start his famous Indigo movement. The road from the railway station to the Ashram was to have been built six years ago. At least that is what the impressive foundation stone, laid by ( the then)Chief Minister Rabri Devi and Railway minister Laloo Prasad says.

Miffed by MIFF

I've paraphrased a brilliant piece by Ajinkya and Arindam

Backed by the government, the Mumbai International Film Festival, yet again alienated many documentary filmmakers.

While this edition of MIFF managed to lurch through the festival period without any superficial hiccups, many uncomfortable questions remain unanswered. An air of discontentment lingers among a large number of critically acclaimed and independent documentary filmmakers in India.
Saba Dewan, director of The Other Song, was so disillusioned by the selection procedure that she decided to withdraw her film in protest after being selected for the non competitive category. "MIFF has been mired in controversy since 2004. I find it surprising that the authorities blatantly disregard any attempts at reform. The selection has been getting shoddier and shoddier and I was shocked to see the films that were omitted from the festival this year," she said.

Films like Wagah (Supriyo Sen) and Bilal (Sourav Sarangi), which have been acclaimed internationally in film festivals, were rejected by MIFF. While many quality films that have won prestigious awards were rejected, many were pushed to the non competitive section without adequate explanation. The Superman of Malegaon (Faza Ahmed Khan) and The Other Song (Saba Dewan), which have several international awards to their credit, were treated rather shoddily.

2004, events came to a head when MIFF decided to censor several films which were of 'a politically sensitive nature' - for instance, portraying the genocide of Gujarat, or the protracted non-violent struggle of Naramada Bachao Andolan, turned into an extraordinary film by Sanjay Kak, among other similar films. Rakesh Sharma's Final Solutions (on the Gujarat genocide and the character of the Sangh Parivar) and Kak's Words on Water were barred. Filmmakers, film buffs,actors and artists' reacted with rage. MIFF was boycotted.

This cumulative anger gave rise to 'Vikalp: Films for Freedom', an alternative national platform of independent filmmakers whose films were being trapped in the barbed wires of mindless censorship. As a

part of the Campaign against Censorship, this platform became a parallel endeavor.

Filmmaker Anjali Monteiro, whose film Naata was one of the films rejected in MIFF 2004, but screened at Vikalp, talks of how MIFF has become a mockery. She calls it a "perpetuation of mediocrity". She points out at the 'retrospective section' which showcased a lot of films by the jury members themselves, from the films division archives.

Having received sponsorship from the ministry of information and broadcasting, MIFF boasts of one of the biggest budgets in the film festival circuit in India.

Resurrection Story

For me, it doesn't really matter if it is a Historical Fact that Jesus rose from the dead.
Easter to me is probably a reaffirmation of the rising from the tombs of dead habit.
Jesus was the man whose first 'miracle' was changing water into wine.

He was the one who called the priests of his time 'whitewashed graves' that looked clean on the outside, but were full of rotting corpses on the inside.
Looking at all the stuff happening in the world today in the name of 'Christianity', I daresay, if Christ were here today, his theme  would be, "Look What they've done, to my song, Ma"

To the uninitiated, the lyrics go
Look what they've done to my song ma
look what they've done to my song
It used to be so right
But now it's gone all wrong Ma
look what they've done to my song....
Alleluia!