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METROSCAPE
Shoot And Run
For three years, Kolkata filmmakers Soumitra
Dastidar and Kingshuk Ray, chased every shopkeeper, mason and paanwallah
in Raipur with the same question: did they know where the People's War
Group (PWG) camp was? The duo, who were determined to make a documentary
on the outlawed outfit, usually ran into a blank wall.
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| JUNGLE COOK: PWG cadres in the innards of Bastar
whip up a meal |
Then, just when they were about to give up, a
PWG "lieutenant" approached them. After verifying their credentials
and their intent, he invited them over to a camp in Bastar. "It was
a 12-day trek through the jungle," recalls Ray. "We weren't
even sure if we'd get back alive." But they did- with almost 10 hours
of footage.
The result is a chilling look at one of the
most violent underground groups in the world. The filmmakers spent two
seasons with the PWG in Chhattisgarh, moving from hideout to hideout as
the rebels stayed clear of the law.
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| Intrepid Filmmaker Dastidar |
Now they are turning their experiences into
a four-part series, the first of which was screened in Kolkata last week.
The 40-minute documentary shows-among other things-how inductees are welcomed
(with a peculiar handshake), educated (on mats) and trained (AK-47 twirling
sessions). The rebels have their own march songs and even have their own
extremely formal weddings. The PWG, the film makes it clear, is well-trained
and articulate, and over 40 per cent of its members are women.
And far reaching. From Andhra Pradesh, the group
has already extended its influence to Jharkhand, West Bengal, Punjab,
Haryana and Uttaranchal. "The series has not been made for anyone
in particular," says Dastidar. But the Rs 2 lakh project could wind
up in the Denmark's Marxist museum or the Mao archives in Shenzen, China.
Victims of the PWG's violence, like Andhra Pradesh, where a Coke plant
was blown up recently, might do well to see the films. They could give
them some vital clues.
-Labonita Ghosh
BOW DOWN
MISTER
Indian maharajahs and their game-rich fiefdoms may
be the stuff of lore but the Mumbai glitterati's fascination with their
less-privileged heirs was amusing to watch. At Marwar magazine's 10th
anniversary at The Oberoi, evening EM CEE Malaika Arora Khan gushed uncontrollably
while introducing the sundry ex-royals who had descended from Rajasthan
for the event (she found everyone either "absolutely stunning"
or "absolutely royal"). There was also a fashion show by royal
faithful Ritu Kumar featuring badla-laced bridalwear, but the highlight
was the food from the princely kitchens of Sodhawas and Bedla, the latter
supervised by Shagun Kumari from Udaipur. Predictably, a charitable fundraiser
got completely eclipsed by the rapture.
-Natasha Israni
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