Highlights
- Nagraj Manjule, a city-based mass communication student, who bagged the National award for the best debut non-feature film with Pistulya, about a underprivileged boy's quest for learning, says that he has a lot in common with the protagonist.
- The 15 minute and 11 seconds long film, produced, directed and shot by Nagraj, with a cast drawn from his own group of friends, has been praised for its brevity and sequences portraying a stark reality of an underprivileged life, presented with subtleties of rural India.
- "It was perhaps easy for me to identify with the characters shown in the film, because I myself come from the Vadar community (those who hammer and break stone slabs) to which the protagonist, Pistulya, belongs..," the award winning film maker told PTI here.
Nagraj Manjule, a city-based masscommunication student, who bagged the National award for thebest debut non-feature film with
Pistulya, about aunderprivileged boy's quest for learning, says that he has alot in common with the protagonist.
The 15 minute and 11 seconds long film, produced,directed and shot by Nagraj, with a cast drawn from his owngroup of friends, has been praised for its brevity andsequences portraying a stark reality of an underprivilegedlife, presented with subtleties of rural India.
"It was perhaps easy for me to identify with thecharacters shown in the film, because I myself come from theVadar community (those who hammer and break stone slabs) towhich the protagonist, Pistulya, belongs..," the awardwinning film maker told PTI here.
Pistulya, the protagonist of the story whose father isdead and mother the sole earning member of the family takesthe route to easy money, indulging in petty thefts as he playsinto the hands of the community goons.
But as he goes about stealing in the village, a glimpseof a school with the students of his age reciting prayer inthe assembly, takes him on a different plane.
As he watches the boys and girls in school uniform from adistance, and through a wire-meshed compound, Pistulya has avision of a better life.
But interestingly, the boy for whom the path of vice isseen as a natural choice, thinks of his younger sister Laliwhen the thought of education first comes to his mind.
"He appears to be have resigned to his own fate and thewayward life to which he was condemned in the social set up.However, he has a thought for his sister whom he sees asthe ideal candidate for pursuing the path of learning. And tomake a beginning to support her in his own way, he firststeals a school uniform of a girl student," said Nagraj.
The film shows the boy fleeing after stealing the schooluniform and ends up as Pistulya collapses as he runs his heartout and falls along the village road in exasperation.
"It certainly was a challenge to capture the ethos of acommunity living the life of tramps and social stigma andprojecting a dormant desire for reform, encapsulating thetheme in just 15 minutes. My own life experiences helped me toachieve the effect," said Nagraj who had actually produced
Pistulya as a project film as part of his mass communicationcourse conducted by Pune university.
The national film award citation for
Pistulya as thebest debut non-feature film of director which won the 'RajatKamal', states, "It is a delightful exposition of the poignantlife of a poverty stricken child who nurtures a dream ofembracing the source of learning thorugh education. Withsimplicity and fluency, the director (Nagraj) portrays thespirit of the child thorugh fine performances."
Buoyed by the appreciation at the highest level, Nagrajnow has plans to convert this 15 minute work into a fullfledged feature film to send across a powerful socialmessage which he thinks would be relevant to many deprived andstigmatised communities in the country.