A short film made to support the anti-superstition mission undertaken by slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar will now become a vehicle for propagating the cause for which he campaigned relentlessly.
A Mumbai-based duo - Amandeep Singh and Amarnath Chandaliya - closely associated with Dabholkar, has produced an 18-minute film titled “Bhooth Bada Ki Bhookh” (which is bigger - ghost or hunger?).
Rights of this film will be passed on to the Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANS), the anti-superstition movement group founded by the social activist who was murdered here on August 20.
According to Mr. Amandeep, the film’s director, they had conceived and completed the film revolving around the theme of eradication of superstition and development of scientific temper, in March this year, just five months before unknown gunmen shot the rationalist dead during a morning walk.
Still recovering from the shock of his sudden exit, Mr. Singh and Mr. Chandaliya, who has written the screenplay, decided to hand over the film - shot in just two days with a modest budget of Rs 2 lakh - to ANS as a tribute to the selfless crusader who fought and died for a cause dear to his heart.
Mr. Singh said they would give 200 copies of the film to ANS which would also have the distribution rights. The film DVDs/CDs will be supplied to the Pune-based organisation as per requirement at a nominal copying charge as the project was not a commercial one, he added.
The film, which seeks to convey the anti-superstition message with a story of a young boy and his mother, was screened in the city on Friday in the presence of Hamid, Dabholkar’s son, and other ANS activists.
“The mother, though uneducated, removes the fears of the boy who is scared of ghosts, offering simple explanations,” Mr. Singh said, adding the entire narrative is presented in a sequence lasting just one day.
While noted Marathi actress Mitalee Jagtap has played the role of mother, two children were drafted from the Mumbai slums for the film produced under the banner “Junoon”.
The crew associated with the film’s production worked without any remuneration, Mr. Singh and Mr. Chandaliya noted.
