‘Kavi’ story of an Indian slave boy makes it to the Oscars

Helvey who shot the film on a shoe string budget in and around Wai,near Mumbai,said that the goal of the film was to “motivate action through awareness”.

“What incredible support for Kavi. 30% of our DVD proceeds are going to anti-slavery orgs. Hope this gets eyes on Human Trafficking,” wrote Helvey,a student of the University of South California,on his Twitter account.

“My goal is to reach at least 50,000 people with ‘Kavi’ in the first year. The purpose is to motivate action through awareness,” he added in a statement.

Last year’s Oscars were dominated by the Mumbai-based-potboiler ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ which won eight Oscars,including two for musician Rahman and one for sound artiste Resul Pokutty.

‘Smile Pinki’ a documentary by American director Megan Mylan about a young Indian girl stigmatised due to her cleft lip had also won the Academy Award in the ‘Best Documentary Short Subject’ category.