Film on Honour Killing in Haryana,directed by Rajeev Kumar,screened at CAMS
KS Diwan/ royalpatiala.in/ Patiala
National Award winning film director Rajeev Kumar showcased his yet to be released Haryanvi film, “Dushman” based on a case of honour killing in Centre for Advanced Media Studies (CAMS), Punjabi University Patiala.
This film is the first Haryanvi film to be made in consonance with the principles of “Second Cinema” or world cinema that defies convention of commercial Hollywood cinema.
An alumnus of department of Indian Theater, Rajeev won the national award for a Punjabi film for “Nabar” in 2013. Explaining the nuances of his film “Dushman” Rajeev said that he took inspiration from the revolutionary film movement of France which is called French new wave and particularly from a French film director, Jean luc Godard who criticized the commercially motivated Hollywood films and urged that a filmmaker has the authority of an “Auteur” or author.
He said that “Dushman” film has been designed as a thematic film with a non-linear narrative, which gives emphasis on emotions and story rather than the structure. Rajeev Kumar also interacted with students of Filmmaking and Journalism and answered their queries. During his pre-screening address, Rajeev said that he came upon the idea of making this film while reading an article on that particular incident in a newspaper where the journalist described the angst and distress of a grandfather whose granddaughter was killed by his family members including his sons and a daughter-in law.
Rajeev explained that he was against the formulaic filmmaking principles of commercial cinema which he said was primarily derived from the viewpoint of Hollywood cinema. The commercial mechanics of Hollywood have nothing to do with the benefit of audience and they more or less function as a factory churning out products with the motive of profit generation and for this purpose these films are also usually termed as “exploitative” as they encash upon the basal instincts and emotions of audience.
Rajeev said that he is consciously trying to tread a different path for his films which are non-formulaic, have a narrative which defies the conventional structure. This screening was attended by Incharge, CAMS, Dr. Amanpreet Randhawa, Dr. Kulpinder Sharma, Tejinder Sharma and Chandan Dravid.
