The Buddha on Celluloid

“There is a serious lack of awareness regarding Buddhism on celluloid. Indian filmmakers haven’t explored the subject enough barring a handful ofdocumentaries . That was the reason behind this festival,” says Aruna Vasudev,President NETPAC. The ‘International Buddhist Festival – The Inner Path’ was first held in Delhi in April this year organised by Vasudev with filmmaker Suresh Jindal of the Devki Foundation . It was conceived during the Global Buddhist Congregation held in Delhi last November.

The Delhi festival showcased 22 films from all over the world and included a dance performance from a Sri-Lankan dance troupe,discourses,panel discussions and painting exhibitions by artistes on Buddhism. “While the Delhi fest was diverse,the one in Pune is focused and concentrates only on films with an exhibition alongside of rare Buddhist manuscripts,” informs Latika Padgaonkar,member of PIC and manager of the Pune festival. “Global film festivals like these have been held regularly in places like Singapore,Hong Kong,California,London and Washington. Ironically not much has been done in the country where Buddha was born,” adds Vasudev.

The lineup is indeed more global than Indian. Some of the films to be screened include ‘Travellers and Magicians’ (Bhutan) by Khyentse Norbu,’A Buddha’ (Argentina) by Diego Rafecas,Japanese film ‘Shugendu Now’ by Jean-Marc Abela and Mark Patrick Mc Guire. The two Indian films are ‘Trishagni’,starring Nana Patekar and Pallavi Joshi and ‘Light of Asia’ by Franz Osten,the first film ever on the Buddha made in 1926. “In addition,the Sri-Lankan film,’Introspection (Sankara)’ by Prasanna Jayakody and the Korean ‘Come,Come,Come Upwards’ by Im Kwon Taek will also be screened during the festival,” adds Padgaonkar.

The ancient Buddhist texts to be showcased at the exhibition at Jaikar Bungalow at NFAI are from different Asian countries and have been borrowed from the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) .

Along with Jindal and Vasudev,actor Kabir Bedi will be present for the inauguration of the festival. Padgaonkar mentions that Bedi’s roots as an actor and a Buddhist provide for an apt confluence for the festival.