Film on Sikh riots explores identity, multicultura

[nanosecond]

Film on Sikh riots explores identity, multiculturalism

Express News Service

New Delhi, May 5: Three nuns in an old, dilapidated convent. The tension in the atmosphere is evident as the oldest of them turns rosary beads while another plays the piano. The phone rings. The youngest nun attends the call and her face displays a combination of shock and grief.

The scene was being enacted during the shooting of a Hindi film, Kaaya Tharan (Chrysalis) at Dasna in UP, about 50 km from Delhi. Kaaya Tharan is the first feature film being made by former Doordarshan newsreader Sashi Kumar, who is now the chairman of the Media Development Foundation, a trust that runs the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai.

His film, set against the backdrop of the 1984 Sikh riots, stars Joy Michael of the Yatrik theatre group, Poonam Vasudeva, Seema Biswas and Angad Bedi, former cricketer Bishen Singh Bedi’s son. The movie will be released in June.

The plot revolves around a nunnery that gives shelter to a Sikh woman and her son Juggi, played by seven-year-old Neelambari Bhattacharya — the great-granddaughter of political stalwart E.M.S. Namboodiripad. The story unfolds when they escape from riot-torn Meerut and seek refuge in the convent located in Dasna.

The film is partly based on Van Marangal Veezhumbhol (When Big Trees Fall) — a Malayalam short story written by bureaucrat N.S. Madhavan.

The film depicts Sikh riots, but Kumar says he wants to look at the larger picture. ‘‘Whether it’s the 1984 riots or Godhra carnage, they challenge the multic

ulturalism of our society. Individual identity is threatened by factors like religion, caste and race. I’m making a statement that individuals need space in a multicultural society,’’he says.

Michael calls it a ‘‘human story’’ and stresses on how Kumar is trying to keep out violence. Vani Subanna, who plays a nun, adds: ‘‘We can’t connect with all this violence. We are old, ailing and lost in our world until this child comes along. Should the two be protected? The nuns are faced with this conflict.’’ Subanna is a drama teacher at Janaki Devi College.

Neelambari, a Class 2 student of Blue Bells School in the Capital, is of course too young to realise the serious issues the film depicts. All she knows is she has to deliver a good performance. Her father, Saumyajit, a lecturer of economics at Kirori Mal College and mother Sumangala Damodaran, who teaches economics at Lady Shri Ram College, accompanied her to the shoot.

The film also features two journalists, Joseph Maliakan and Rahul Bedi, who had covered the riots for The Indian Express.

Some scenes have been shot in Delhi, in Civil Lines and the Press Club at Raisina Road. Contemporary dancer Chandralekha choreographed a piece featuring dancer Navtej Johar and Delhi-based Sufi singer Madan Gopal Singh composed a song.