Nila Madhab Panda, a Padma Shri and award-winning director of I Am Kalam,
in which a young boy draws inspiration from the former president, puts the focus
on the stories of children once again, in Halkaa. But in doing so, he addresses a
larger issue: Open defecation in villages. It’s a technique he’s mastered,
highlighting social concerns through the way they afect people—from Jalpari:
The Desert Mermaid (2012), which centred on female foeticide and won the
prestigious MIP Junior Kids Jury Award at Cannes, to Kaun Kitney Paani Mein
(2015), a satire that looked at caste discrimination and honour killing. His latest,
Halkaa, a musical that won the top award at Grand Prix de Montreal earlier this
year, is soon to release in India. What made you become a storyteller? I grew
up in an environment where there were no luxuries of surfing the internet or
watching television, and I was no student of the year. The only time I was truly
happy was when my grandparents narrated stories. Another joyous instance
was when an uncle of mine bought a small-screen television in 1984—I was glued
to it for the daily Doordarshan telecast of two hours. I realised how this ‘idiot box’
was a force that brought together families, friends, and even an entire village.
What inspired you to make films on social issues? We forget our history and
look past the matters relevant to society. I take inspiration from my struggles,
the way I’ve come from a small village and now live in a metropolitan city.
I’ve complied with the norms of the society, the aggressive rules it bestows upon
children—how they are instructed in villages to defecate in open grounds—
which they wouldn’t necessarily be comfortable with. It makes me stronger,
to be able to create a platform where I can project what the real matters are and
bring them to light. How did the title come about? I was ruminating on the
best way to describe relief in Hindi since first, this is a children’s movie and
second, it is centred on the concept of defecation. The proverb ‘halka hona’
popped in my head, and we had a name for the movie. What are the challenges
you faced on set? Every piece of art is a challenge. One of the toughest parts
was conducting continuous long shoots in high temperatures in Chambal Valley.
The problem of sanitation—which is the crux of the film—was another major
obstacle since we were shooting in and around four-year-old dump-yards.
What’s next for you? I am working on a story about the Indo-Pakistani war of
1971, trying to include untold instances of that period. ■ By Prableen Gujral
FILMDIRECTOR’S CUTStoryteller extraordinaire Padma
Shri Nila Madhab Panda once
again makes a compelling point
on social issues in a way that
wins both hearts and awards