Aghanashini is a documentary film, directed by Ashwini Kumar Bhat, about the river Aghanashini, which flows through the district of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka, was one of the films screened at the Moving Waters Film Festival held at Goethe Institut-Max Mueller Bhavan.
River Aghanashini (destroyer of sins) originates from the Western Ghats and flows towards the Arabian Sea. The river may be considered as one of the most pristine ones along the west coast as no dams and notable establishments or major townships are there along its banks and it has been flowing in the same course for thousands of years. Even though the length of the river is only 124 kms, the volume of water it carries is easily comparable to the more famous rivers such as Kali and Sharavati. The rich mangrove vegetation, diverse aquatic and bird community associated with the estuary are noteworthy.
“If you really want to do something, ‘ I don’t have time’ is just an excuse”, says Ashwini Kumar Bhat, a techie working at Landscape Wizards, who completed the documentary within two years, while taking time out of his busy schedule. “We worked on the documentary during weekends and holidays,” says Sahana Balkal, Bhat’s wife, who had been there as an integral part of the team on the ground.
As Aghanashini is not a well-known river, no documentaries were shot and many stories about it have not been told as well. “The question on how to tell the story suddenly dawned on me as there are so many aspects to it, natural and cultural,” says Ashwini.
The documentary also highlights how people’s lives are connected to the river and the culture and rituals that have developed over time because of the river.
The documentary also talks about some of the threats to Aghanashini River, mainly the proposal to divert the river and link it to Linganamakki Dam and take the excess water to Bengaluru and Kolar region.
The proposed commercial sea port project near Tadadi, which is a part of Sagar Mala project by the Government of India can also ruin the Aghanashini estuary, which is the only natural estuary in the State.
