The Root Runs Deep

Director,scriptwriter and trustee of Sadho,a not-for-profit organisation aiming to take “poetry to people”,Bahl’s roots are in English literature,in journalism and even in social activism. She worked as a correspondent with The Indian Express before taking to films in 1996. Like her,her husband,Saxena,too,comes from a family of teachers,a background in literature and a Leftist ideology. Director,cinematographer and photographer,he quit television journalism in 1996 and answered his real calling. “We want to be the voice for the voiceless,to create awareness among the people of India. We have one life,let us do what we can,while we can,” he says.

In Chandigarh to screen their films,Cotton for my Shroud and Hollow Cylinder as part of the Chandigarh Creative Cinema Circle’s “Sunday with Filmmaker” event,the duo talk about their work and the need for a national consciousness. Together,they produce films on socio-political issues,development,environment and poetry under their organisation,Top Quark.

From the National Award-winning film Cotton for my Shroud,which exposes the cotton graveyard of Vidarbha,the BT Cotton controversy and its farmer suicides; Agaria: The Sons of Fire that captures the Agarias,the first Indian aborigines who discovered a method for melting iron,an extinct art form now; Yamuna,a tale of this holy river that’s reduced to a sewer in Delhi; Hollow Cylinder,a film on bamboo and how it can help nations reduce their carbon footprint and generate livelihood; and The Sage of Pingalwara: Bhagat Puran Singh,Saxena and Bahl have made films on pressing issues. According to them,government and the media have hijacked the real issues. “Farmers,the Northeast,the tribals of India and the grassroot problems have fallen off our radar. We live in an illusion,in a system where we are not in the driver’s seat,” says Saxena.

The solution,says the couple,lies in taking ownership. “All is not lost. There are people who,without any government aid or sponsorship,are doing their work — making roads,bridges,adopting villages,carrying on literacy missions and creating awareness,” says Saxena. The youth is not a “hopeless pepsi-cola generation,” says Bahl. “It is alive,aware and holds immense power and potential,” she adds.

Saxena and Bahl believe in the butterfly effect — a little flap of wings that can cause a tornado on the other side of the world. They travel extensively and hold workshops on photography and filmmaking. “Like farmers,we are sowing the seeds in the minds of people. Our films are not directed at policy-makers,but at the people of India,” says Saxena.