‘Need to open black boxes of development’: Abhijit Banerjee, Sarnath, and Arathi Rao speak on their films on water crisis

In “The Land of Good Intentions,” Abhijit Banerjee narrates, while sitting in his bedroom, how rice turned out to be a major crop in Punjab, even though the state is not even a consumer of it. Banerjee’s narrative is engaging and amusing, as he cracks jokes about constipation, diabetes, and more. As the narrative blended with comical clips, animations, and retro music, the short film mocked the changing state governments and how agrarian activities affect the water table. Meanwhile, Delhiites choke amid pollution, and corporate giants continue to reap benefits with a sly dig at the “gym rats” who push hard to balance their glycemic index, leaving viewers with something to think about—perhaps an alternative staple diet.

In “Eternal Swamp,” Abhijit brings in scenes carved out of his real-life experiences in Kolkata, incidentally as the pot-bellied, curly-haired, flashy “Mishtu da”—everyone’s friend in Bengal—turns out to be an opportunist as capitalism and industrialisation take over the city. With his quirks, manipulation, and influence over people, he scrambles to reap profit as the real estate industry booms in the city—built over a swamp. While locals are sentimental about the land and remain protective, they can barely resist the takeover by industries, high-rises, and pollution-ridden water bodies.

“The Price of Water” (Jwoler Dor) brings to light how Bengaluru, with its hills, turned into an environmental catastrophe. It brings alive the situation by juxtaposing tanker mafia, water scarcity and inflation with the ‘cool guy’ unaffected by the crisis, enjoying his time in the pool of a high-rise. The film brings out the hardship women face in fetching water, among others. However, the film lacks originality, unlike the other movies, considering the lack of real-life instances and depth of elements—Abhijit himself admitted so politely.

Following the screening, the trio engaged in a light-hearted yet engaging conversation filled with banter as Arindam Banerjee, Dean and Professor, School of Liberal Studies, BML Munjal University asked relevant questions. While the films touched upon serious elements with humor, one among the audience was curious to ask why such a depressive theme was selected. Abhijit, who set out to portray stark realities, said he could get even more depressing. Abhijit also connected it with economics and said, “When economics is narrated in an intelligible manner, it’s easy to understand and nothing complex for anyone. The reason why we want people to own the economics is because if we don’t open these black boxes of the development models, then we will end up like this. We will end up creating smart cities, garden cities. Delhi was once a garden city and now it hosts over 2 crore people. The city which once had the lowest density of population has topped it.”

Arathi Rao spoke about how we have lost connection with the environment and are cocooning ourselves in cars, flats, and planes. Arathi said, “We struggle in the public discourse because people are in silos. Sociologists are not talking to hydrologists, and hydrologists are not talking to urban planners. That’s how we have got here today.”

Mentioning the creative process, Abhijit said that with Sarnath Banerjee’s talent, it’s hard to let things be in a particular way and they let everything unfold, while Sarnath Banerjee attributes the non-binary conversational nature of the films to the humorous, creative side of Abhijit. “The political fables and characters are etched from the realities Abhijit encountered during his time in Kolkata. The second film was really personal,” Sarnath said.

As Sarnath drew the helplessness and irony of middle-class activism, Arathi Rao chimed in, saying it’s about privilege. “We live in a bubble in Bengaluru. As mentioned in the films, Bengaluru is built on the wetlands. The terrain of Bengaluru is full of mountains and valleys and the city is built over it. So when it rains, it gets flooded. It’s the suckers who get affected by floods, but this time it was multi-millionaires who got hit and suddenly Bengaluru woke up. Bentley and other luxury cars started flowing in the floodwaters, and we started crying.”

Sarnath, who calls the films “Water Wars,” reminisced about the days when he, along with his friends, used to stand in line to fetch buckets of water at Connaught Place. “Cut to 2025, Delhi has more than enough water that we can let it go waste.” However, Abhijit begged to differ and said, “I do not agree with the word ‘water war.’ It’s a result of the consequences of our actions. Water is necessary, nature is beautiful and powerful. There are people who are powerful with lots of money. They don’t need to negotiate with the consequences of nature’s fury. They walk away from it. Affluent Indians are moving to the Gulf and other countries. There is no mystery. The suckers will bear the consequences and the rest will have fun at the golf course in the Arctic.”