Identity Crises

2010-07-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

..By Rickshawala Ratan

Babu : Banerjee Para Jabe??

Ratan: Haa Babu Jabo...

Babu : Koto Nebe?

Ratan: Babu Bhara to 7 Taka Kintu Bhitor er rastar Kaaj Cholchhe Bole Anek Ghure Jete Hobe Tai

2 Taka Beshi Lagbe

Babu : Baaper Jomidaari Peyechho??? 1 Takao Beshi Hobena Jete Hole Ei takatei Jete Hobe....
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We the Kolkatans are well accustomed with dis kinda conversations. Howeva Tis for the first time I guess dat a rickshawpuller lyk me is writing a blog of mine own.

Am Ratan, howeva v have been bestowed by our society with a more appealing name of "Rickshawala" . It seems funny when people go crazy bout sustaining their entity then from a teenager to an octagenarian everyone calls us by that name. Tis fun to see all the section of our society are concerned bout renaming calcutta to kolkata , renaming park st. to Mother Teresa Sarani but had anyone eva noticed that since the invention of rickshaw we have been suffering from identity crises... :D

The morning brawl at "koltola" of our bustee, serves as my alarm clock. While crawling out of my shanty I often trample on feet of pawchaa, khedo, kali, bashona.....ohh! sorry. I forgot to mention, they all are my children rather to me they are props of my old age and for them am really thankful to god. We really lack proper food and accomodation but still we look forward to a better future - wat u call India Shining :D

Taking my rickshaw from its owner I start my expedition. Throughout the day I keep on ferrying passengers from one place to other. The most interesting part of our life is that v have to serve people from different section of society as the list of our clients are comprised of aspiring poiticos to local goons, from students to NGO personnels. from priests and saints to enuchs and sex workers and the list goes on..

We get to see the frustrations of an unemployed youth to the exhaustion of a corporate entity. When corruption of a police constable paves the way for humialtion then ryt at da same tym i get moved off my feet to see love and affection of a mother towards her child.

At da end of da day after getting my wage from my rickshaw owner i head towards my mecca. Tis a shanty beside the railway tracks selling country liquor. I regard dis as my Mecca coz this is the only place that infuses enthusiasm in me for my next expedition on the following day. There they serves the divine drink that help me forget the hindrances in the way of my life, That help me forget about the infidelity of my wife, that help me forget that how my elder daughter was exploitated by the self proclaimed "babus", belonging to higher class. That help me forget the daily abuse and humiliation that i have to face from the so called "society". Last but not the least that helps me forget my "identity crises" as this is the time i emerge out of the status of a stigmatic "Rickshawala" ....

2010-04-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

Urban Smile - a short film on urban street children Inspite of our convincing as well as repeatative attempts to replace happiness with materialistic pleasures still there is a great part of our society who seeks happiness from their daily struggle for existence. Urban Smile is my reverence to them who inspite of being deprived of their basic human rights still strives hard to sustain the innocent smile on their faces.
Urban Smile is completely an experimental venture of mine. The job was really tough enuff for me as i had to experiment wid both the aspects of real motion and 3D animation.. The real motion portion is solely a documentary and thats also on a really sensitive subject of deprived children who dont evn get the basic neccessities of life. Its the diference in lifestyle of a pampered child with children whom we love to regard as street destitutes. Where the former is alwaz provided with excess while the later one is deprived of their basic human rights.

While directing it the only thing that i alwaz kept in ma mind is the difference in perception towards happiness.
Tis not alwaz neccessary that we must be wealthy to be happy... coz according to our surrounding we tamper the definition and medium of happiness. If we eva fail to achieve any of our simplest desires, we kip on complaining for the same bt i wanna show them that their are people residing simultaneously in our urban society who had changed the concept of happiness. they dont have any complaints , they dont have any grudge, they dnt evn have a proper home to seek refuge bt still they are fortunate as they have managed to ensure a permanent smile on their faces.
While making this I had to come across the toughest of hindrances as its a sensitive issue and tis all bout lives of slumdwellers and election is just knockin at the doors hence we were not even allowed to shoot at the places where we initially intended bt still we have managed to shoot at some truly good locales. And Im really thankful to Anup da without whom this job would not have been possible.
And am also grateful to all my frendz for their support and specially i ud like to thank Swapan da and Basu da for their help during our Pre Production process and also Anirban da and Amit da to guide us through the entire process of production and post production.

While making this film I got to face some of the harsh realities of life. Though I couldn't show everything due to several obligations bt howeva i tried ma best to depict the true scenario.

Most of them are unaware about their orgin of birth.They dont evn know the names of their father. And when we went to their mothers to seek the names we just ended up staring stupefied as theirs mothers were also ignorant about the names of their biological fathers. Their mothers are mainly rag pickers and often gets indulged in sex trade to meet the basic needs of their families. Their is a lot more things to say but my mere grasp on language is not enough to depict their struggling lives and their meek attempts to find happiness and entertainment through their struggle for existence. The stigma of class suppression might have deprived them from their constitutional and basic rights but it could not deter them from restoring a deific smile on their fragile faces.

Even though is not guided by politics but however anyone can sniff the filthy politcs behind this. State Government is trying hard to bring them in the main stream of life by providing them with basic free eductaion by alluring them with mid day meal. It was a pleasant sight to see the youth of Kolkata is working hard on them to provide them with basic education. But theirs attempts is also restricted to some limited extent as these street dwellers are engrossed with cliched conventions and superstitions and a part of them is under the influence of local goons and political frontrunner. During our Research and Developments works and even while through our post production process we have been hindered several times by some local goons under some political parties.

Though it is a short film bt as the subject is really sensitive enough and their is a lot of obligations while working on this kind of subject hence it took really a long time for me to know the lives of these destitutes. Parents of most of these children are so much illeterate and is guided by cliched conventions that they are reluctant enough to send their children to Govt. sponsored primary schools. And some of the politcal parties are banking on them to enhance their respective vote banks. However politics is not the subject of the film

-hence we must emphasize on the class difference still prevalent of our society. No government on Earth could solve this problem unless and untill we eliminate the curse named "Class Suppression" .

"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish" ... Mother Teresa.

I was completely moved by this one liner by Mother Teresa. Though she emphasized mainly on class distinction but hardly do we ever try to feel her intent and her deeds.

I dont intend to bank upon their wretched conditions neither do I sympathize with them, and i hate to denounce this stigma of poverty to gain politcal footage coz I believe a society of right minded people are enough to eliminate this social evil called Poverty. However Urban Smile is a satire on ourselves as we are depriving those people who are contributing their lives to meet our endless demand for luxury and comfort. When we dig on a "Grand Opulence" or on "Pizza Royale" then these are the people who seek pleasure in boiled chicken feet or on feathers of chicken.

Now we are goin through the phase of post production pipeline and hope to finish it off within a couple of weeks frm now..