THE GOLDEN SPARROW ON SATURDAY APRIL 30, 2016
“India believes that the foremost challenge to international security continues to be posed by international terrorism. The RIC countries must lead the way in getting the international community together to counter terrorism through joint action.” — Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister
“We should not be a slave of anger, hatred and arrogance. So therefore I think the basic human nature is compassion, being compassionate.” — Dalai Lama
His cinema does not escape reality For Santosh Ram, movie is a medium to express his social commitment BY SHEKHAR PAIGUDE @TGSWeekly From being an avid watcher of films shown in ‘Indian Panorama’ programme on Doordarshan as a young boy living in Dongarshelki village of Udgir taluka in Latur district to becoming a writer-director-producer with many award-winning short films under his belt, 36-year-old Santosh Ram is living the script of his passion. His first feature film ‘China Mobile’ will be released soon. LOVE FOR CELLULOID Santosh was attracted to films since childhood. He grew up watching films of the likes of Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Amol Palekar and Gautam Ghosh. He worked on developing strong writing skills while pursuing his graduation from Latur before moving to Pune for higher education in 2001. Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and National Film Archive of India (NFAI) were the establishments that made up his mind to shift base to Pune and help realise his dream to become a film-maker. Son of a schoolmaster, Santosh worked as a data collector in Pune to support his dream of becoming a film-maker, living in a room he shared with five other boys at the Mahatma Phule Hostel. “I could not clear the entrance test of FTTI despite appearing for it twice. Then I made friends with students and started assisting them in their projects. These assignments taught me the practical aspects of cinema. I call myself a ‘FTII canteen pass-out’ as I learned cinema at the institute’s canteen. Later, as member of NFAI film circle and Ashay film culture, I attended many film festivals across the globe. These discussion
Santosh Ram (left) made short film ‘Galli (The Lane)’ with Belgium cinematographer Benjamin Brugatz. (Right) ‘China Mobile’ is his debut Marathi film
sessions helped me understand various nuances involved in the making of a film,” he said. ACADEMIC JOURNEY While doing his post-graduation in English Literature from Modern College, Pune, Santosh developed an appreciation for cinema. He participated in the film appreciation course conducted by NFAI and FTII in 2006. He also completed the six-month filmmaking course conducted by Cinefusion, Pune and was selected for a six-month course in City Narratives In Cinema and Literature conducted by Maajlis and Maxmullar Bhavan, Mumbai. THE STRUGGLE It is a black and white truth that actors and film-makers from rural areas who decide to not follow the Bollywood script have to pay a price to achieve success. On the one end of the cinema spectrum is Bollywood bursting with grossly overpaid stars and obnoxious publicity and struggling ‘meaningful cinema’ makers make up the other end. And Santosh has journeyed the distance in the past 15 years of making films. He has found that financing and
publicity for independent film-makers from rural areas is a remain a Sisyphean task. The self-taught and self-made film-maker said, “I had to run from pillar to post to raise funds for my short films. Finally, my first short film ‘Vartul’ (Circle) was released in 2008 with the help of my friends. The short film won over 14 awards and was screened in more than 54 film festivals in India and abroad.” Vartul (Circle) was shown in the 11th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival (New Delhi), International Documentary and Short Film Festival Of Kerala, 17th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Canada) and 5th National Show of Independent Cinema “Otros Cines”, San Nicolas (Argentina). Santosh started Vivek Chitra Productions with Ramchandra Pundlikrao Marewad in 2008. He is working on ‘Santosh Ram Project’ — a series of 15 short films and debut Marathi film ‘China Mobile’. ACCOMPLISHMENT The writer-director-producer explores the effects of Internet in village youths through his debut Marathi film ‘China Mobile’. As digitisation spreads into rural India, Santosh’s film narrates its effects on villagers’ lives.
Brighten future of slum kids Mission Transformation founded by five friends now has 1,200 happy young faces BY ROMIL KOTHARI @romil_kothari Management consultant and researcher Shivani Kolakar, 24, always wanted to do something for deprived children. And her desire took shape when she founded the NGO Mission Transformation along with her four friends — Akshay Koshti, Mohini Patel, Raman Gangasagre and Madhura Bhalerao in 2013. The social body’s mission was to educate the children for a better tomorrow with a vision of development of the deprived. Mission Transformation opened its fi rst centre in Vishrantwadi where they started teaching the neighbourhood slum children English, computer science, audiovisuals, skits and plays. The children are also taken to different places. “As we aim for the overall development of a child, we make our programmes creative and research oriented,” said Shivani. In a span of three years, Mission Transformation has opened multiple centres in Vishrantwadi, Sinhgad Road and Parvati covering
over 1,200 children. Out of five Sundays in a month, two are devoted to teaching English and the remaining for extra-curricular activities. The founders plan activities every month to teach children about the basic laws and rights, craft, fi rst aid and other social subjects. “We intend to make a generation that would inspire the next generation. We want to make them capable and competent so that they can face the
Mission Transformation teach children to make lanterns. (Top) Shivani Kolakar
outside world with confidence,” said Shivani. Apart from child development, Mission Transformation also teaches women English and computers on Saturday. They also teach them to make useful items like lanterns and hold fares and exhibitions to help them sell it. The fund collected is given to the women. The NGO launched a campaign called ‘Legal Literacy Campaign’ across the villages in Maharashtra starting from Mulshi from April 28. Under the programme, volunteers will visit villages and clear the legal doubts of people. A team of lawyers and law students have been hired to help in their cause. A box has been kept at a public place in the village where any villager can write their query on a piece of paper and drop it in the box. All the queries will be answered within 2-3 days and put up on the notice board in the village. The NGO will also hold interactive sessions with villagers every month to address their unanswered issues. Mission Transformation plans to cover 144 villages. Mobile study rooms for slum kids will also be started by the founders from May. “Kids have told us that they do not have adequate space in their house to study. We are going to modify Tempo Travellers from inside and equip it with books, computers and benches. The vehicle will be stationed near the centre every evening and each vehicle will accommodate 16 students” said Shivani. The NGO will start the project with six Tempos and plan to add more in future. The NGO has also started teaching migrant kids from other states who could barely understand Hindi, Marathi or English. And schools pass these kids despite their knowing the basics of language. “We visited the school and teachers said that they had to pass these children in accordance with the government rule,” said Shivani. With the help of audio-visual and language specialist, the NGO is making efforts to teach them language. Shivani said, “We have started the journey to teach underprivileged children and now there is no looking back.” romil.kothari@goldensparrow.com
PUNE
‘China Mobile’ will talk about two teenagers who are recently introduced to the digital world. “The film based on a real story would capture how digital world is impacting various aspects of their lives including relationships and love. Based in Latur, my hometown, the entire movie is filmed with local actors as a way of making the film more authentic and generate employment in the drought-stricken area. ‘China Mobile’ is my first independent project. My rural background helped me to understand changes after the globalisation and the film is its depiction,” Santosh said. His short films ‘Vartul (Circle)’ and ‘Galli (The Lane)’ have been premiered in more than 54 national and international film festivals and won about 14 awards in various categories. Galli unfolds the struggle, friendship, depression of people living in the lane. “Cinema is the most effective medium to portray thoughts. It should deal with real life rather than fictional characters. The depiction of reality will accelerate the change in society” Santosh said. tgs.feedback@goldensparrow.com
Techies raise funds for Vidarbha farmers
In a noble move, a group of IT professionals has come together to raise funds for repaying loans of over 100 debt-ridden farmers in drought-hit Vidarbha region, notorious for farmer suicides. The IT professionals have united under the banner of an NGO, Apulkee (sense of belongingness), with an objective to help debt and drought-ridden 121 farmers in five districts of the cotton belt. The NGO has so far raised Rs 3 lakh from people who are known to IT professionals and their circle of friends and companies. It aims to collect Rs 85 lakh to close the loans of the identified farmers. Describing the criteria for selecting the farmers, Mayuri Dhavale, a senior associate working with Apulkee, said, “We shortlisted most affected five districts of the state and then zeroed in on marginal farmers with less than 5 acres of landholding. Additionally, priority was given to the families affected by farmer suicides.” The list was prepared after sifting through data provided by local NGOs and volunteers associated with Apulkee. Teams visited the selected farmers to study their current condition and collected 7/12 extract (a key land ownership document) along with bank and loan details. Dhavale gave district-wise break-up of beneficiary farmers and their pending loans which was Wardha (25 farmers - loan amount Rs 21,38,582), Washim (25 farmers - Rs 12,57,762), Amaravati (27 farmers - Rs 18,34,402), Yavatmal (25 farmers - Rs 12,72,104) and Akola district (19 farmers - Rs 18,62,200). Abhijeet Falke, head of the NGO, said, “The situation (in Vidarbha) is grave and it cannot be solved by any one organisation, individual, NGO or government body. Only a collaborative movement will give some relief and therefore we have launched a small initiative seeking (financial) support from our personal contacts.” “The amount raised will be used only for loan closure and directly given to the banks. No cash amount will be handed over to the farmers. The loan closure report will be shared with all the companies and individuals who contribute towards the cause and uploaded on the website apulkee.org,” said Falke, who himself runs an IT company in Pune. The NGO also plans to seek funds from its foreign-based volunteers and other companies if the target from Indian sources is not met. PTI