Take A Break From Johar

Xplore, Times of India, Saturday, November 19, 2005

Tired of Tom Cruise? How about going to Vatavaran, India's top Environment and wildlife film festival, getting underway from November 21

There you can watch Nutan Manmohan's The LastFlight, the documentary that makes a gallant effort to save the Asian vultures. Or, Rupin Dang's A Shivalik Mansaon, a film on The Paradise Flycatcher, arguably the most beautiful bird in India. Some movies being shown are like social registers. For instance, the evocative Shadows af Tehri made by Anirban Datta. The film traces the history of old Tehri town now deep under water. Others are like inquisitions. KP Sasi's 'The Source of Life far Sale talks about the impact of privatization of water in India.

There is a huge bouquet of questioning documentaries. One of them examines ground water extraction by a cola company in Kerala. Another explores the relationship between a langur and a human being. Films that Karan Johar will never make. A retrospective of two top UK-based documentary filmmakers, Doug Allan and Richard Brook, is another clutch of films to look forward to. Allan was principal cameraman for the award-winning BBC series, Blue Planet.

Eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal chairs the Competitive Section's jury. There are seven competitive categories with prize money ranging from Rs. 50,000 to 1,50,000. The nominated and award-winning films will be later shown in different parts of India as part of the Vatavaran Traveling film festival. The festival is being organized by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) and supported by the Union ministry of environment and forests.
Avijit Ghosh
The film festival is on from Nov 21-24 at
Indian Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road