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‘Gulabi Gang’ filmmaker comes up with movie on farmers protest, set to be screened in Chandigarh

The film by Nishtha Jain, who made the movie 'Gulabi Gang', is all set to be screened at Panjab University today, December 10.

'Gulabi Gang' director and filmmaker Nishtha Jain

‘Farming the Revolution,’ an award-winning film by Nishtha Jain, takes us to the heart of the massive year-long protests against the Indian government’s then newly enacted farm laws during the COVID lockdown.

To be screened at Panjab University’s Evening Department Auditorium at 4 pm on December 10, the film chronicles the epic protest by Indian farmers against newly enacted farm laws, reaping a rare victory over the state.

Over half a million protesters gathered – men and women from all generations, religions, classes and castes – and reinvented co-existence at massive protest sites that burgeoned on the borders of Delhi.

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The film invites us to experience everyday textures and the indomitable spirit of this historic farmers’ movement – until, finally, victory. Their united mission: to stand against the newly enacted farm laws. These farmers believed that if implemented, these laws would negatively impact the government-protected farmers’ markets, leaving the farmers to the vagaries of the free market.

Amid a COVID lockdown, the farmers – representing over half of India’s workforce – vowed to remain at the borders until the laws were repealed. The protest cities that mushroomed outside Delhi created a parallel world where they redefined co-existence, with women emerging as equal political partners.

Day after day, the protesters – largely overlooked by the mainstream media – showcased India’s pluralistic, defiant and resilient spirit. As the movement gained momentum, farmers from across the country and industrial workers’ trade unions rallied in solidarity.

The scale of these protests echoed the spirit of India’s independence movement, culminating in an unexpected, triumphant outcome. Jain is known for her critically acclaimed films –The Golden Thread, Gulabi Gang, Lakshmi and Me and Farming the Revolution, her latest film, premiered at Hot Docs and won the Best International Documentary Prize.

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As per Jain, over 13 months, her team and she were witness to the exceptional bravery of the protesting farmers, their speaking truth to power, and their remarkable resourcefulness.

“Their determination, perseverance, discipline and patience were deeply inspiring. Spearheaded as the movement is by extraordinary leaders, the film’s protagonists didn’t just hope or pray for success, or weigh their chances when it came to action. They embraced a different language. They came to win and they did! The protest’s scale and duration, while awe-inspiring, were also a challenge. It was the year of the COVID lockdown. I was fortunate to be able to put together a young and dedicated team, which stayed on till the end to capture the collective energy of the protest and the individual transformations of the protagonists. The film gives the viewers an almost day-to-day experience of the protests, through changing seasons, while challenging popular misconceptions about farmers as country bumpkins or conservatives,” says the director.

As part of the film, we meet evolved, wise, educated, and informed people – many tall leaders, writers, poets and singers. Surrounded by police barricades, the farmers create a zone – a zone of possibilities, a zone of freedom within which the normal laws of the police state don’t apply. It becomes a place of optimism, hope, and action. A zone of camaraderie.

The farmers tend to the sick, feed each other, and continuously upgrade their shelters to adapt to the elements. They transform their farm implements into sleeping platforms, libraries, schools, and stages of protest. The culture of sharing, community and jugaad (Indigenous ad hoc problem-solving) is on full display here.

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There are mini-universities/ communes with libraries, community kitchens, and film screening spaces. In this unprecedented assemblage of people from all caste and class backgrounds, urban and rural, young and old, with women participating in large numbers, we see how roots in faith and revolutionary thinking may coexist.

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