Points to Ponder

The tussle between power & powerlessness,state of anarchy,meddling agencies,acts of rebellion,struggle to survive_ independent filmmaker Sanjay Kak triggers a thought process

I don’t know the answers,but I certainly know the questions,” independent documentary filmmaker Sanjay Kak wraps up an interaction with students of Chitkara School of Media Studies,and amuses us with a “things I talked about are not something young people are expected to be interested in,but I have a rule – I talk and do what I want to.” He,however,has a theory too,about how we assume that our kids are not serious about things. “The young are surrounded by so much rubbish that when you discuss something meaningful,they rarely disappoint,” a filmmaker out of sheer curiosity,Kak gave up the thought of print journalism – it was dull and deadly in the eighties,and the man decided against it. Documentary-making gave him the advantage of totality of an experience,initiated a dialogue and disturbed the people. It’s clear that he hates to punch in a message. He’d rather pick an issue and raise a wall of questions,like those in Jashn-e-Azadi – How We Celebrate Freedom,a documentary on Kashmir which took him about three years to make and Words on Water on on the anti-dam movement in the Narmada Valley. “I am an old fashioned romantic believer of justice and equality,things we are so embarrassed about today,” says Kak,who re-discovered Kashmir after a long time,and it wasn’t a warm homecoming for things have wrongly reported. “Which has caused a fog of misunderstanding,a state of chaos courtesy the meddling multiple agencies at work. It’s like Babel; the more you talk,the more it goes beyond comprehension,” Kak follows the valley like a hawk and is writing a series of essays on it. “Our understanding of Kashmir hasn’t moved an inch,it’s stuck to Pakistan and Jihad. There is no innocence in this land for the people feel differentiated and disadvantaged,” the filmmaker feels true democracy should be restored – let the people talk.

A nation is not decided on paper. It has to be constructed on ground. Conflicts and rebellion do not take place in isolation,it’s a chain reaction. Over simplification of complex issues is not the way,dealing with its genesis is. “It’s politics of power and the struggle of the powerless. The state shall win eventually,but not without implications which are carried forward,” Kak connects it all: Nandigam-Singur-Kashmir-Chhatishgarh. “People displaced for Bhakra and Pong are still fighting. Kashmir is symbolic,but it has de-stabilized the country.” Who runs the state and why,will India become a police state…questions plague audiences wherever he travels with his work,and Kak feels all is not that hopeless. “People are not stupid,they are aware courtesy those who travel with projectors and dvd players,and screen documentaries; there are full-fledged festivals at Gorakhpur and Bareilly!” he feels television too should devote an hour to this medium. “It’s an education for our education system is becoming polytechnic,a rote mentality.”

On the issue challenges of making a docu-drama,Kak feels a good documentary comes with long engagement. “One needs to sit,watch and understand,and it all falls in place.”

Active voice in the Campaign Against Censorship,he feels strongly about how censorship ends up censoring politically sensitive issues,but never stops pornography,demeaning depiction of women or inflammatory propaganda during elections. “It instead censors thoughtful documentary makers and serves the interests of party in power.” Isn’t it all about power?