Students all over Kerala are experimenting with movies to understand the essence of Gandhism and Gandhiji’s ideals. A group of upper primary students of BCV Memorial Public School, Nedumangad, turned to Gandhi for inspiration when they thought of making a short film with the money they’d been saving up for a year. Their award-winning short, October 2 , is a reflection on the misuse of public funds, a film within a film, told through the eyes of two students who've dressed up as Gandhi and Nehru for Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations in school.
When Darshan K., a student of class nine in Payyannur, Kannur, went full steam ahead with a short film he wanted to make, he had to look no further than Mahatma Gandhi for inspiration. The result is Kettle , a simple but powerful seven-minute tale on honesty and integrity, right out of the mouth of babes.
Far from just an image on currency notes and photographs, Gandhi’s life, his ideas and ideals – Gandhigiri, in reel parlance (courtesy Munnabhai MBBS ) – has been getting a refreshingly new lease of life thanks to short films like these. Just a quick browse through YouTube throws up links to hundreds of short films inspired by Gandhi and on Gandhigiri, professional and amateur, in just about every Indian language and in English too. The films touch upon a wide range of subjects, from personal hygiene and environmental awareness to globalisation, corruption and even child labour. In Malayalam, for example, there are at least 35 such shorts that have attracted eyeballs for their content, possibly more.
Young filmmaker Akhi Nanniyode, who conceptualised the film, Karuthapakshiyude Velutha Akasham , a gentle reminder that there are non-violent alternatives to problem solving, which was the signature film for Gandhi Short Film Fest (see box), believes that “Gandhi’s life is an open book with immense possibilities for artistic inspiration and interpretation. Perhaps that’s why it’s a favourite theme.”
Darshan, who is now in Plus One, adds: “I focussed on that particular childhood episode from his memoir, My Experiments With Truth , which describes his refusal to copy the word kettle from his neighbour’s slate during a class test, because I thought it was a relevant topic, one that children of all ages can relate to. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. After seeing the film, many of my friends and classmates came up to me and admitted to copying and said that they were ashamed that they had done so.” Darshan has recently made another short, Kannadi , once again inspired by Gandhi, this time on the ideal of simple living. “I’ve been reading up on Gandhiji for my films and have learnt a lot about Gandhian values. I think such values need to be imbibed when young and that's a reason why I made the film,” he says.
Shalini V. Nair, principal of BCV School, who led the October 2 project knows first-hand about the impact that the 11-minute film had on her students. “We touched upon several issues in the film such as lying and stealing, helping senior citizens, religion, wastefulness, social service, discipline… The students themselves came up with the scenarios, researched the ideas and learnt a whole lot about Gandhian ideals in the process. I’ve observed a marked change in the children, some of who have now graduated to higher secondary school. They have become more responsible, socially aware and confident about themselves,” says the proud teacher.
For most of the filmmakers the idea behind choosing Gandhi as the subject for their shorts seems to be a Gandhian idea itself: ‘be the change you want to see in the world.’
Renjith Murali, a 26-year-old theatre manager based in the city, who directed G for Gandhi , a thought-provoking short about how society ‘deliberately chooses to ignore Gandhian values in daily life,’ is one of them. “I made the short because I was disturbed by how society values currency over Gandhian values and wanted a change at least in the minds.”
He adds: “There are a number of Gandhian values that are universal, ideas such as non-violence in thoughts and actions, discipline, patience, keeping a positive frame of mind, his non-confrontational way of communication and so on.”
Through the lens
Gandhi Media Foundation, a city-based organisation promoting Gandhian values, has started an annual Gandhi Short Film Fete, a first-of-its-kind competition for school and college students and young individuals from across India. Dr. N. Radhakrishnan, founder chairperson of GMF, who conceptualised the fete, says: “The time had come for us to explore new avenues to reach out to the youth, something different to the orthodox methods of propagation of Gandhian values. As short films have become the medium of artistic expression in the digital age, it was prudent that we organise such a fete.” For the first edition of the fete, held in January, there were 52 shorts in competition in four sections (school, higher secondary, college and general). The foundation has called for entries for the second edition to be held next January. For more information, log on to www.gandhimediafoundation.org
