Our film Jhing Chik Jhing is up for release in June.

Based in rural Maharashtra, with the backdrop of agrarian debt & farmer suicide, the story is that of a boy – Shyam (Chinmay Kambli – best actor MaTa Sanman, Maharashtra state awards) whom dares to hope for a better future, his never say die attitude.

Director Nitin Nadan – who also won the best story award at Zee Gaurav – shares his vision of the film

Jhing Chik Jhing is a phrase that the protagonist Shyam naturally uses to express joy; when he feels something positive has started happening for him. He is full of dreams and a go-getter just like many other children of his age. What makes his story unique is the fact that he has the audacity to hope even though he is surrounded by poverty, because his father is a farmer in debt.

I believe that only those people rise in life, that have absolutely nothing to fall back on – nothing to lose.

The dichotomy in my country baffles me. When the Indian economy witnessed a sharp rise in the last decade, ironically more than 10000 farmers committed suicide due to indebtedness in Vidarbha, Maharashtra (State in India). It was a phenomenon that took India by storm. They swallowed pesticides, hung themselves from trees, set themselves on fire or jumped down wells. Most of them were plagued by debt, poor crops and hopelessness.

I thought of this story when I came across more than 50 children in a remote village school. We were shooting an environment series for India’s national channel, in the interiors of Vidarbha, Maharashtra. These children surrounded our car looking very excitedly inside. That is when the forest officer told me that this was the area where the maximum number of farmers had committed suicides. I was sure at least one of those boys wanted to own a car when he grew up. My mind was flooded with questions -

What if one of these boys has dreams?

And what if his father wants to commit suicide with the whole family?

How will the boy survive? Where will he derive strength from?

There were many stories that I could have chosen for my first film. All entertaining and commercially viable! But I debated within myself as to what was more important – a film only for the sake of a glamorous career or a film based on the issues that I have deeply felt for, for years?

I picked up few real instances and weaved them into an imaginary story. To elaborate, in my personal journey from a small nondescript tribal school in rural India to Mumbai, the City of Dreams, I have survived by sheer ‘HOPE’. So my protagonist’s character is also defined by Hope. Simplicity in expression was my priority. For the same reason the story telling is linear. For me it was important to get the audiences to feel for the characters and sympathize with them. The characters live simple life yet there exists an inherent drama. It unfolds through the characters’ behaviour in situations. Even the solution I suggest is simple and right upfront.

I know for a fact that before my film many films have been made and after my film many will be made. Where I stand as a filmmaker is not the question nor is how my film gets rated. What definitely matters to me the most is how deep an impact my film will create on the people who see it. Whether it will make them want to alter their existing lifestyle (food) to organic lifestyle.

Thousands of farmers for almost 3 decades have been misguided under the pretext of green revolution (inorganic Farming). I as a director feel for it strongly and want to put it across to the consumers who can create a difference because I firmly believe that “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”.

this via @shalombook on twitter.

essentially, the soaps are rating an average of 5.4 TVR, and IPL is rating 5 in the top 4 cities amongst the GE audience. Soaps that cost an average of 6-12 lakhs beating up the country’s largest Reality extravaganza that costs many, many times more …..

“Hello world !! aren’t i pretty today”, said the little flower – putting her little green arms out,anticipating the applause !

There is a time to talk about how this Fundamental Right can be implemented better. And, there is a time to celebrate the fact that it is a fundamental right !

For now, i will feel good about the fact that a system cares enough to make this a Fundamental Right !

One of the things that you notice when you travel into India, is that communities that have traditionally been deprived formal education, bend over backwards to ensure that their children get educated. Often this is a daily struggle.

a child outside a balwadi in Udgir, Maharashtra – waiting to get into school. The child is from a Dalit family and faced discrimination in the main school. Dalit women set up a SHG and from their profits set up a school where their children can learn without discrimination.

This is the Pardhi school – the yellow plastic bag in the foreground contains all the educational material. Pardhis are a tribe in India who traditionally hunted for a living. However, in a more modern setup with the kings owning land – Pardhi’s were declared as criminals – hunting from the kings’ land. Ostracized they began to survive through minor crimes – poaching, making away with livestock and so on. Very often caste, class and social systems ensured that the Pardhi’s could not assimilate with main stream society, and their dependance on crime increased. The British Raj declared the Pardhi’s to be criminal tribes.

Post independence the term cirminal was dropped and attempts were made to bring the tribe in line with mainstream society. However, it hasn’t been easy. Even today the police will look for a Pardhi at the first hint of a crime. Villages don’t want Pardhi’s settling down near them – because of their past. Many settle illegaly on Forest Land and their settlements are torn down at regular intervals. All this leaves the children in dire straits. A nomadic lifes tyle is not condusive to education, and social ostracization means that they are wary of going to the local schools. NGO’s have set up a number of projects that help educate Pardhi children, Using volunteers it ensures that basic education skills are imparted to these children.

Hopefully, the fundamental right to education means that getting access to education is no longer a struggle. Now, all that remains is to put the teachers and infrastructure in place ! Given that this is now a Fundamental Right citizens can be more empowered to demand the supply of education in their neighbourhood…. What i would like to see now is a military like campaign that drafts teachers to give the new law a leg up. Maybe the State can start with those who have retired over the last 10 years and see if they can teach again !

It is not often that one has the opportunity to laud the Government – here is one. Well done !