The Sikh Times - Biographies - Anand Patwardhan: "Tackling Hatred Against Minorities Is My Primary Goal"

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Anand Patwardhan: "Tackling Hatred Against Minorities Is My Primary Goal"

By STAFF

Sundance Channel, Jul. 1, 2003

"As a child, Indian filmmaker Anand Patwardhan was immersed in the non-violent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. With this perspective, Patwardhan takes a critical - and ironically humorous - documentary look at India and Pakistan's dangerous dance with jingoistic nuclear nationalism, and how this madness continues to thrive in the rest of the globe. With money that could build 15,000 badly needed primary health centers, India chooses to buy just one nuclear-tipped missile, a decision that many Indians laud with newfound pride."
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"India's leading documentary filmmaker, Anand Patwardhan has been making politically charged films for nearly three decades. His films, while winning many international awards, have invariably upset the ruling elite in India, tackling as they do subjects such as religious fundamentalism (In the Name of God), the connection between machismo and sectarian violence (Father, Son and Holy War) and the plight of those displaced in the name of development (A Narmada Diary)."
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Question: "Where did you grow up? How did you think it influenced you as a filmmaker?"
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Anand Patwardhan: "I grew up in Bombay which is nicknamed Bollywood because this is where the bulk of Indian cinema gets made, but commercial Hindi films never interested me much. Although my family was involved in the Indian independence movement I never felt politically inclined till I went to study in the U.S.A. in the early 70s. The Viet Nam war was on and students and staff at my university very actively opposed the war. The non-violent peace marches, the counter culture, the search for meaning, all these influenced me greatly and I returned to India to do voluntary work in a village. I had also got my first taste of filmmaking while shooting during a peace march and many years later, took up the camera again in India."
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Q.: "What was the first documentary you remember seeing, and how did it affect you?"
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A.P.: "I must have seen many documentaries that I don't recall very clearly but the one that really remains etched was Patricio Guzman's The Battle of Chile. Salvador Allende, president of Chile, was already an ideal of mine as I myself was grappling with the desire to convert my Marxist friends to believe in democratic, non-violent means, while at the same time trying to tell my Gandhian friends that mere non-violence without class analysis could not bring justice to the poorest. Here was Allende, a Marxist who came to power not through a bloody revolution but through democratic elections. When the C.I.A.-sponsored coup killed Allende in 1973 and massacred thousands of bright young Chileans who were working amongst the people, it was a great blow to me personally and politically. Guzman's epic documentary captured both the glory and the challenges of the Allende years and also underlined the extent of the tragedy that befell the world in 1973."
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Q.: "Which person, living or dead, would you most like to interview, and why?"
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A.P.: "[I]t would undoubtedly be Mahatma Gandhi. I have seen the footage that survives of this incredible man and it always leaves me hungering for more. One can see the mischievous humour, the kindness, and the wisdom of the man in every frame. The sad part is that there is only limited footage available and most of it is silent. The few times we do hear his somewhat squeaky voice, one is again thrilled to hear that he appears to be having fun as he speaks. At one time a reporter asks him how he can appear at the palace of King George wearing only a loincloth, and Gandhi replies that king George will be wearing enough clothes for 'both of us.' For me the problem with someone like Gandhi is to convince people that such a man did actually exist and that we can all search for the Gandhi in ourselves - if only we could peel off the hundreds of layers of defensiveness that years of cynicism and disillusion have built into this impenetrable shield."
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Q.: "What are the most important topics that need to be covered in documentary today?"
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A.P.: "It really depends on where you are located. If I were in the U.S.A., I would surely be working to recover the America that has all but disappeared from view. The America that believed in democracy and justice. The America that taught Rachel Corrie to stand in front of an Israeli bulldozer, the America that taught Cassius Clay that no Viet Namese ever called him a nigger, the America that teaches Noam Chomsky to stake his career on the principles of freedom, the America that gives courage to Michael Moore to stand up on Oscar night and denounce the illegal, immoral attack on Iraq. Being located in India, tackling our own brand of jingoism and hatred against minorities is my primary goal."
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Q.: "What is a documentary filmmaker's responsibility to to affect political change?"
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A.P.: "Perhaps this question is now redundant after the answers I wrote in to your earlier questions but to put it in a nutshell, the documentaries I like best do not pretend merely to observe reality from the position of a passionless fly on the wall, but acknowledge that they are part of this reality, reflecting on it, shaping it and being shaped by it."
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