The murder of a Communist social activist Leelavathi in Madurai in 1997 was the beginning of his entry into documentary film making. “She was killed by political thugs for her battle against the water mafia, which was against water projects as they wanted to sell water,” recalls independent documentary film maker from Chennai R.P. Amudhan.
He participated in an interactive meet organised jointly by the Vizag Film Society and Movement for People Centered Development (MPCD) at the Visakhapatnam Public Library here on Thursday.
“I make documentaries on behalf of the people. India is the biggest democracy and everybody has to be well-informed on all issues concerning the public to make the right choice in elections. The governments do not give the full picture and the common man has no way of knowing the complete truth with the media also having its own limitations,” Mr. Amudhan said in a chat with The Hindu on the sidelines of the screening programme.
“We (documentary film makers) are bridging this ‘communication gap’. This is not to say I am anti-establishment. I am for ‘inclusive’ growth. You can even call my documentaries ‘one sided’ as I only portray the grievances of the affected people and do not bother about what the managements or the government have to say on those issues as it will be highly unlikely that they would come out with the truth,” he said.
“The strong anti-nuclear movement against the nuclear power plant in Kudankulam is worthy of emulation in other parts of the country. It is like a second freedom struggle in a Gandhian manner. The police, who couldn’t think of anything else as it was a non-violent protest, foisted 60,000 cases of sedition against the villagers,” he said.
On the patronage of documentaries, Mr. Amudhan said, “Apart from telecast by television channels, they are screened at documentary and short film festivals. These days all educational institutions have LCD projectors, where special screenings are done”.
