‘Labour Pain-An Unending Saga’, a Pune-based theatre group’s film chronicles migrant worker exodus during the pandemic

Produced by Yuwaraj Shah, the film is written and directed by Abhijeet Choudhary. (Express Photo)

“The idea came about through the news and at the same time, we were volunteering to provide help with food packets, helping students go back to their hometowns etc. Observing the circumstances, and partly living it, let the idea take some form,” said Choudhary.

The film begins in a basti or slum where 70-80 migrant workers from the same villages and states live together and work in different capacities. The residents meet in the evenings and enjoy their simple lives together. One day, when the migrant workers return home from a day at work, the first lockdown is announced and then the story of 21 days begins.

Choudhary said that although it is fiction, many of the elements were picked from the reality they saw up close. The film also attempts to incorporate details such as the helplessness of society and the administration to be able to take decisions in uncertain situations.

In the film festival circuit, Labour Pain – An Unending Saga bagged awards at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, Crown Wood International Film Festival and Diamond Bell International Film Festival. (Express Photo)

“The migrant workers faced the hardest brunt of the lockdown as they had to walk all the way home. Their life is dependent on their daily earnings and more than the virus, they fear hunger. The emotion is captured through the dialogue between the characters in the film too,” said Choudhary.

After the script was ready, the shoot began in late 2021, Choudhary said. “We shot in some villages in Wagholi and some bastis in the PCMC (Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) area. We received a lot of help from the residents of the bastis as the story was about them and their inputs made the film more authentic,” he said.

The film follows the story of Shankar and Manju, daily wage migrant workers, living miles away from home and shows how the apocalyptic days of the unforeseen pandemic upended their lives and millions like them. (Express Photo)

Talking about her experience as the protagonist Manju, Heblikar said, “There was a story of a woman migrant worker who was pregnant and gave birth on the journey back to her hometown and that became the core of the plot of the film…When the actual shooting of the film began, I realised that migrant labourers’ work is very difficult and challenging as we lived their lives for a while. For instance, we cleaned a well which was part of the film and that experience helped me understand the lives of the workers who do these tasks on a day-to-day basis. Even shooting in the basti, when I saw how they have built a home for themselves in such small spaces, all I could think was that these people have come so far from their hometowns and built our cities with their own hands and what have we done for them? As an artist, it was an interesting journey for me to understand the pain, agony and challenges methodically,” she said.

As for the title, Heblikar said that while a lot of titles were thought of, Labour Pain fit best. “The labour pain a woman goes through during childbirth and the pain of a labourer are never-ending. The title captures the crux of both very well,” she said.

In the film festival circuit, Labour Pain – An Unending Saga bagged awards at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, Crown Wood International Film Festival and Diamond Bell International Film Festival and was officially selected and screened at the Boden International Film Festival, Sweden, International World Film Awards, International Moving Film Festival, Iran and Bettiah International Film Festival. The film is set to be released on an OTT platform soon as the story should reach the masses, said Choudhary.