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Ashvin Kumar is India's youngest Oscar-nominated and two-time national award-winning filmmaker, who has written, directed and produced a wide range of films, including India's only Oscar nominated short film ''Little Terrorist'' (2004), documentary ''Inshallah, Kashmir'' (2012) and ''Inshallah Football'' (2010); feature-length thriller ''The Forest'' (2012); coming-of-age tale ''
Dazed in Doon ''Dazed In Doon'' is a 2010 film written and directed by Ashvin Kumar, who was invited by The Doon School (Kumar's alma mater) to create a fictional film set in the school to mark the school's 75th Founder's Day in 2010. It has since become con ...
'' (2010) and his debut film ''Road to Ladakh'' (2004) starring
Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020), also known simply as Irrfan, was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in In ...
. In 2005, he became the youngest Indian writer/director with an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
Oscar nomination, Ashvin is also the first Indian to be nominated at the
European Film Academy The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. The Academy—under the name of European Cinema Soci ...
with his film '' Little Terrorist'' which has been part of official selections to over 130 film festivals, winning awards in 25 of them, including the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) LA. Ashvin faced a roadblock with Indian censors for his film '' No Fathers in Kashmir'' which initially received an 'A' certificate. He wrote an open letter to Prasoon Joshi, the director of CBFC, as well as appealed to the FCAT. The film got released with a U/A certificate on 5 April 2019.


Background

Ashvin Kumar was born in
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
, India and is well-known fashion designer,
Ritu Kumar Ritu Kumar is an Indian fashion designer. Early life and education The lack of educational opportunities in Amritsar led her to move to Simla for her schooling, where she attended Loreto Convent. She later studied at Lady Irwin College, where ...
's son. He did his schooling from La Martiniere Kolkata, Modern School and
The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mode ...
,
Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...
. He describes his experience as a student at Doon as "overall pretty miserable". He went on to study at St. Stephen's College, New Delhi, where he was an active member of the renowned Shakespeare Society and then at Goldsmith's University, London, where he received a bachelor's degree in media and communication and briefly, at the
London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.
. He has described himself as a "resounding dropout" and of his experience at film school he says, "The institutionalization of cinema was suffocating. I wanted to learn on the job. I wanted to be adventurous." The lack of opportunities to make short films led him to move from New Delhi to London.


Films


No Fathers in Kashmir

No Fathers in Kashmir, previously Noor, is a story of hope and forgiveness told through the eyes of two teenagers experiencing first-love and heart break. It is a coming-of-age narrative of innocence and tenderness set in Kashmir . The screenplay of Noor was one of eight projects selected to Sundance Institute / Mumbai Mantra Lab 2014. The script was also awarded a development grant by Asia Pacific Screen Academy.' In February 2016, Noor's Kickstarter campaign raised £74,000 ($100,000). The Kickstarter platform provided funding for the film without being held to anyone else's agendas, or having to compromise the creative vision of the script. To support the crowdfunding campaign, Ashvin traveled across the UK to visit Kashmiri communities in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Rochdale, Bradford and Birmingham and held free screenings of his films, ''Inshallah, Kashmir'' and ''Inshallah, Football''. Currently, the film has hit a roadblock with Indian Censors that have awarded the film an 'A' certificate. Kumar has written an open letter to Prasoon Joshi and has appealed to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT).


Road to Ladakh

Kumar's first film was ''Road to Ladakh'', which took 9 months to make, although the actual filming was done in 16 days.Doononline.net
/ref> The film is 48 minutes long, and was released in 2004. Kumar has described this film as his "film school", referring to him dropping out of the
London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.
Hyderabad Times, 12 April 2005 and investing the course fees into the making of this film. Kumar learnt production and post production by immersing himself into various roles and learning the craft on-the-fly while putting his own film through the many stages of production. He describes it as a process of trial and error from which he emerged with a completed film. For starters, "''Road to Ladakh'' was a disaster of a film shoot, we were lucky to get the film done" "Out of a ten-day shoot, it was raining on five days. So, we had to finish the shoot in half the time. There was just one petrol pump (in
Spiti valley Spiti (pronounced as Piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tibe ...
where the film was shot) – we had seven cars and two trucks and a cast and crew of 40 people (who were staying in camping tents that later got flooded) looking at me for directions at every step. There I was – my first film, in
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
, and I thought to myself – what the hell have I got myself into?" The experiences of this shoot are captured in the making-of documentary ''The Near Un-making of Road To Ladakh'' which accompanies the film on a DVD released for the first time in India in 2009 through Junglee Video (the DVD label of Times Music) in a double bill with ''Little Terrorist''. The DVD also contains an entertaining and informative making-of documentary of ''Little Terrorist'' and is available at music and DVD shops all over India. Says the Mid-Day newspaper review "an elaborate tease that takes you into the minds of two lonely people who can scarce afford to trust each other. One's an enigma while the other snorts coke like it was a meal."


Plot summary

Starring
Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020), also known simply as Irrfan, was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in In ...
, known for his roles in ''
The Warrior A warrior is a person engaged or experienced in warfare, or a figurative term for a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics. Warrior or Warriors may also refer to: Indigenous groups * ...
'', ''
Slumdog Millionaire ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel ...
'', ''A Mighty Heart'', '' The Namesake'', ''
The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' and ''
Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He s ...
'' and Koel Purie from ''
Everybody Says I'm Fine! ''Everybody Says I'm Fine!'' is an Indian English language drama film, released on 12 September 2001 at the Toronto Film Festival. It marks the directorial debut of Indian actor Rahul Bose and the screen debut for actor Boman Irani. For his work ...
'', ''Road to Ladakh'' follows the surreal rites of passage encounter between a dysfunctional, coke-snorting fashion model and an ultra-focussed, strong-silent stranger who are thrown together by chance. Set in the magnificent wilderness moonscape of
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
, India, the road journey and the strange encounters that follow provide a dramatic backdrop for the relationship that develops between the two. Both are outsiders, both are lonely and both crave the human contact that their roles in society deny them. The film, written, directed, edited and produced by Kumar, is poised between elusiveness and engagement, suspicion and tenderness – at once hilarious and sinister, bizarre and moving, psychedelic and intensely real. A road-movie that drew the talents of a multi-national European crew whose overly ambitious Himalayan adventure was so fraught with disasters that it nearly failed. ''Road To Ladakh'' is a suspenseful tale of falling in love with the wrong kind of mysterious stranger near the borders of India and Pakistan. A road-movie that drew the talents of a multi-national European crew on an overly ambitious Himalayan adventure so fraught with disasters that it nearly didn't get finished; as documented in ''The Near Un-making of Road To Ladakh''.


Little Terrorist

His second film, ''Little Terrorist'' (2005),Little Terrorist
/ref> was substantially more successful, winning an
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
nomination, a nomination for the
European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the most ...
as well top prizes at the Tehran International Short Film Festival, Flanders International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Manhattan International Short Film Festival and the São Paulo International Short Film Festival. The film has been invited to over 120 film festivals around the world. This film was shot in the tight budget in the deserts of Rajasthan.


Plot summary

The film was based upon a real-life incident in the year 2000 where a young goatherd crossed the Indian-Pakistan border and was subsequently imprisoned by the Indian police. Sri
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...
, the then
Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
, freed the boy as a peace gesture intended to improve Indian-Pakistan relations. In the film, a 12-year-old Pakistani boy named Jamal mistakenly crosses the border into Indian territory while attempting to retrieve a cricket ball.Roger Ebert, ''Chicago Sun-Times'', 25 February 2005 While Indian soldiers search the village for the Pakistani "terrorist", the boy is given shelter by an elderly
Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
schoolteacher named Bhola, despite the latter's deep-rooted prejudice against Muslims, and the objections of Bhola's niece, Rani .Deccan Herald, 13 February 2005 The story is set near the
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
border between India and Pakistan, but the film was made in five days in a village outside
Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...
in
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
. Kumar's mother, the fashion designer
Ritu Kumar Ritu Kumar is an Indian fashion designer. Early life and education The lack of educational opportunities in Amritsar led her to move to Simla for her schooling, where she attended Loreto Convent. She later studied at Lady Irwin College, where ...
, designed the clothes for the actors.Express India 16 September 2004 The film is a "live action short", just 15 minutes in length. It has been described as the first short film to get a commercial release in India.BBC News World Edition, 17 February 2005


Film-making and awards

The film was crewed through the
Shooting People Shooting People is an international social network for independent filmmakers that was founded in 1998 by Cath Le Couteur and Jess Search, in which members share resources and knowledge to get their films made and seen. Dedicated to the support an ...
organisation; members who liked the script paid their own fares to travel to India to film it.Shooting People Interview
. Shootingpeople.org. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
Kumar became the only Indian to be nominated for an Oscar in the short film category.Merinews, June 1, 2009
Merinews.com (1 June 2009). Retrieved 2012-02-10.


The Forest

''The Forest

was loosely based upon the writings and exploits of
Jim Corbett Edward James Corbett (25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955) was a British hunter, tracker, naturalist, and author who hunted a number of man-eating tigers and leopards in the Indian subcontinent. He held the rank of colonel in the British Indian ...
and uses the tale of a man-eating leopard to address environmental concerns. The film is feature-length (86 minutes), and was released in theatres in India on 11 May 2012. The plot concerns a married couple who arrive at a
wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
in the Kumaon Hills to attempt to mend a faltering marriage. An unforeseen threat takes the form of an ex-lover turned wildlife warden. While the husband and lover quarrel, a man-eating leopard is on the prowl, and both men must unite in order to outwit the predator and survive the night. While ''The Forest'' is a conventional action film, Kumar intended the film to convey a strong pro-environmental message.Tharakan, Tony. (27 June 2007
Reuters UK, June 27, 2007
''Reuters.com''. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
The film was produced by Judith James and the music recorded at the
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
. Much of the filming was done at the
Corbett National Park Jim Corbett National Park is a national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state. The first national park in India, it was established in 1936 during the British Raj and named ''Hailey National Park'' after William ...
and the
Bandhavgarh National Park Bandhavgarh National Park is a national park of India, located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh, with an area of , was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993. The current core area is spread ov ...
. The film stars
Jaaved Jaaferi Syed Jaaved Ahmed Jaaferi (born 4 December 1963) is an Indian actor, dancer, and comedian who has appeared in Hindi films and television shows. He is son of the comedian Jagdeep. He joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in March, 2014 and contested ...
,
Nandana Sen Nandana Dev Sen (19 August 1967) is an Indian-born American actress, screenwriter, children's author and child-rights activist. Her first film role in Bollywood was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ''Black'' (2005), starring Rani Mukherjee and Amitabh ...
and
Ankur Vikal Ankur Vikal is an Indian theatre and film actor. Career He graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi in 2000, after studying Architecture at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He has acted with the Motley Theatre Grou ...
. The Magic of Cinema on the full display. The forest wildlife sequences is filmed by world-renowned Bedi Brothers,
Naresh Bedi Naresh Bedi is an Indian filmmaker, the eldest of the Bedi Brothers and a member of the second generation of three generations of Wildlife photographers and filmmakers. He is the first Asian to receive a Wildscreen Panda Award and the first Indi ...
& Rajesh Bedi (First Indian to win Green Oscar in 1984 and only Indian to have won two BAFTA, British Academy of Film and Television Arts Nomination for two tigers films- Saving the Tigers & Man Eating Tiger), Additional Cinematographer & Sound is done by Naresh's twin son
Vijay Bedi Vijay Bedi is the third generation of wildlife film maker and photographer in a family that has a long history of expertise in this highly specialized field. He has worked with various national and international channels like CNN International, ...
& Ajay Bedi (Youngest Indian to win Green Oscar in 2004 and only Indian to win Nomination for "Craft Category of Editing" at 28th Annual News and Documentary EMMY awards, New York, USA, 2007).


Dazed in Doon

Kumar himself an old boy of The Doon School was invited by
The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mode ...
to create a film, subsequently named ''
Dazed in Doon ''Dazed In Doon'' is a 2010 film written and directed by Ashvin Kumar, who was invited by The Doon School (Kumar's alma mater) to create a fictional film set in the school to mark the school's 75th Founder's Day in 2010. It has since become con ...
'', that has since become controversial as the School authorities have moved to suppress the distribution of the film, on the grounds that it "doesn't give the School a good name".''Doon School bans Ashvin Kumar's film'' Times of India, Nov 14 2010
''The Times of India''. (14 November 2010). Retrieved 2012-02-10.
''Doon film fallout!'' Times of India, Nov 18 2010
''The Times of India''. (18 November 2010). Retrieved 2012-02-10.
The film runs to 55 minutes and was made in just four months, from the start of
pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts ...
on 20 June 2010 to the first
screening Screening may refer to: * Screening cultures, a type a medical test that is done to find an infection * Screening (economics), a strategy of combating adverse selection (includes sorting resumes to select employees) * Screening (environmental), a ...
on 23 October 2010. An international crew contributed to the making of the film:
post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...
was completed in
Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
(editing), Italy (picture color correction) and London (
sound mixing Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aesthetic, ...
) with Kumar simultaneously completing post-production on ''Inshallah, Football'' . Most crew members worked for a fraction of their usual fees: Kumar persuaded them to participate in the making of film by highlighting the opportunity of teaching young children film-making in a participatory film project that would result in film of their own. Kumar sings the Doon School song 'Lap Pe Aati Hai' in the soundtrack as well as ''Howly is Krishna'' which was improvised during a music recording session in Goa.


Making of Dazed in Doon

Imaginox an 'online film school' were the sponsors of the video 'making of Dazed in Doon'. Two British film makers were sent by Imaginox from the UK to join Kumar's crew on The Doon School campus where they, simultaneously with Kumar's filming, shot a behind- the-scenes documentary film which can be viewed on www.imaginox.com


Plot summary

The film is a
coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
story about a boy nicknamed "Howly"(Sookrit Malik) with an active imagination who is trying to make sense of life at
The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mode ...
, a prestigious
public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
located in
Dehra Dun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislativ ...
in India. Howly's friend, nicknamed "Boozy"(Aseem Kumar), is an excellent sportsman who is about to win the most coveted award for sports at Doon: the "games blazer". Seeing his friend's determination to win, Howly cheats on Boozy's behalf at a high jump qualifier, giving him the points Boozy needs to win the games blazer. Despite Howly's loyalty and hero-worship of Boozy, Boozy refuses to associate with Howly in front of others, effectively relegating Howly to the role of a
sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
. After a particularly bad
bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
episode that is witnessed by a School master, Howly is encouraged to audition for a part in the theatrical version of the
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
. Howly discovers a natural talent for acting, and is cast in the lead role of the god
Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
. Thereafter, the mythic world of the Mahabharata, with the philosophical and ethical choices forced upon its characters, merges with Howly's own real-life dilemmas: Boozy discovers that Howly had cheated on his behalf, and that his games blazer had been won unfairly. Kumar attempted to demonstrate a number of positive qualities that he believed Doon instilled in its pupils: a sense of
values In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of dif ...
, ethics, friendship, loyalty, the ability to correct moral choices, and to form independent judgments and decisions. The storyline of the film uses a classic text of ethics (the
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
) to link the growing pains of a schoolboy with the subtleties of
Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...
, as outlined in classical
Indian philosophy Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Veda ...
, by linking these concepts to the ethical choices that the characters have to make in their day-to-day lives.


Participatory educational project

Kumar and his crew spent several months on the campus making the film in a consultative and participatory process that included both teachers and students. The film was shot over 25 days, and included a cast and crew of 40 boys and more than 500 extras. As a consequence of dealing with these logistics, which included training a large number of young boys as actors and crew-members and dealing with a heavy monsoon that upset the shooting schedule, Kumar improvised some of the acting and settings of the film, yet keeping to the original story and script. It is perhaps the first time in India that a near feature-length film of this nature has been made with school boys taking key roles both behind and in front of the camera.


Censorship controversy

The present controversy between Kumar and the School authorities has the School complaining that the film does not conform with a version alleged to have been shown to the Headmaster before its presentation at the School, and Kumar asserting that the School should have asked for changes at the time the script was being drafted in close consultation with the School's representative,
Ratna Pathak Shah Ratna Pathak Shah (born 18 March 1957) is an Indian actress and director known for her work in Hindi theatre, television, and films. Her extensive work in theatre includes a series of plays in both English and Hindi. She rose to prominence when ...
, over a period of six months, since January 2010. The script had been submitted and approved, and funding was approved before shooting commenced. As a consequence of this controversy, the School authorities have obtained an injunction from the district court in Dehra Dun to stop the film's release, and the dispute between director and School continues unabated.''Ex-student's film celebrating Doon draws school's ire''
''The Times of India'', 25 December 2010
The Headmaster of the Doon School asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's
censor board The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
to withhold a censor certificate for the film on the grounds that the film is defamatory. The censor board upheld the Headmaster's concerns and awarded the film a U/A certificate, asking Kumar to produce a "no objection certificate" from the School. Further complicating the dispute is the question of ownership of the film: the School asserts that it owns the film; Kumar asserts that the School is contracted to become one of three copyright holders, once the terms of the contract between Kumar and the School have been fulfilled. Kumar asserts, further, that since the School has not yet paid him in full under the terms of his contract, they cannot yet claim their one-third share of the copyright. The dispute has polarized the alumni community of the School (known popularly as Doscos, with the more conservative alumni expressing concern about the School's reputation getting damaged as a result of the film depiction of bullying, etc., and the more liberal alumni expressing concern that the attempt to censor an artist's output is not in keeping with Doon's founding traditions or ethos. The film was originally shown to about 3,000 people who attended Doon's 75th Anniversary celebrations in October 2010.


Release of Dazed in Doon online

On 17 July 2013, The Doon School Confessions page on Facebook posted a link to a Pastebin page where there are links to stream or download the film online.


Inshallah, football

Kumar's first documentary film, the National Award winne

''Inshallah, football'' www.inshallahfootball.com, is a feature documentary about an aspiring footballer who was denied the right to travel abroad on the pretext that father was a militant in the 1990s. The film was completed in 2010, and has faced difficulties getting released in India. The film's first screening in India at the India Habitat Center received this review from Tehelka magazine, 'Kumar's camera catches the irony of Kashmir's physical beauty, the claustrophobia of militarisation, the dread and hopelessness of children born into war and the nuances of relationships. It also filters the inherent joie-de-vivre of youth, even if that flows uneasily with Kashmir's collective memory of unmitigated grief ... There is no better way to understand Kashmir right now.'. The film was shot by Kumar himself using five different camera formats "There is a rough, almost unpolished, feel to Inshallah, Football. The narrative runs unfettered, with an energy of its own." says Tehelka, "We shot with five different cameras, from DSLRs to the best equipment. The idea was to watch life unfold and get under the skin of the audience." adds Kumar.


Plot summary

''Inshallah, Football'' is about 18-year-old Basharat Baba, known as "Basha". His father, Bashir, was a much-wanted leader of the armed group
Hizbul Mujahideen Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahideen ( ar, حزب المجاھدین, ), is an Islamism, Islamist militant organization operating in the Kashmir region. Its goal is to separate Kashmir Valley, Kashmir from India and merge it with ...
. When he left his home in Kashmir to join the training camps in Pakistan in the early 1990s, his son Basharat was barely two months old. Basharat belongs to a new generation of Kashmiris, having grown up under the shadow of a protracted conflict. His passion is football, and he has been coached by Juan Marcos Troia, an Argentinean national and FIFA accredited football coach by profession. Marcos aspires to breed world class players from Kashmir; he and his wife, being attached to both Basha and Kashmir, migrate to
Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
with their three daughters to take up Basha's cause.''A football kick that aims for hope'' Deccan Chronicle, 13 November 2010 Marcos runs a football academy called International Sports Academy Trust; and an exchange program for his most talented players to train at
Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a '' bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals i ...
, Pele's old club in Brazil. Basharat was one of chosen few, but was denied a passport by the Government of India. The passport in question did come through after
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah (; born 10 March 1970) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, after forming a governme ...
intervened.Tehelka, 15 November 2010 ''Inshallah, Football'' tells this story through Bashir's recollections and travails.''More Than A Game'', Express India, 5 November 2010 Kumar describes the film as "the story of three remarkable men – one is his father who fought for his beliefs, another about the football coach who's come all the way from Argentina to start this football academy, and this young man who is struggling to play football."''In Kashmir, inshallah, there will be football'', The Daily Rising Kashmir, 15 November 2010 The film has been critically acclaimed and played in competition part of the wide-angle documentary section at the Pusan Film Festival where it also received the Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund, and winner of Muhr AsiaAfrica / Documentary /Special Mention : Ashvin Kumar (director) at the
Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announce ...


Censorship controversy

This film has face considerable difficulties in getting the necessary censor certificate, without which it cannot be shown publicly in India. The main stumbling block appears to be the content of the film itself, since it deals with the sensitive and highly political subject of how the
Indian armed forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...
have conducted themselves in
Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
. The series and timing of events by which this film's review by the censor has proceeded is unusual, and suggestive of political considerations playing a part in the award of a censor's certificate: * On 28 October 2010, Pankaja Thakur (CEO of the New Delhi office of
censor board The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
) reviewed the film and cleared it for a single private screening. An initial review by a senior censor official would normally indicate that the remainder of the certification process is a formality.''Sharmila denies censoring Jessica, Kashmir Films''
The Hindu, 24 December 2010
* A review committee in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, where the film's application for censor certification had been made, subsequently rejected the application altogether. * A second review committee confirmed the ban.''CBFC refuses censor certificate to Inshallah Football''
Kashmir Dispatch, 24 December 2010
As reported in
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
newspaper, sources from India's Ministry of Information & Broadcasting noted that "the problem with the CBFC's committees is that many of the nominated members are either related to government officials like police officers or have a conservative outlook.". Normally, filmmakers are invited to present their case for gaining certification at such reviews, but Kumar and his colleagues were not invited. * However,
Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (also known as Begum Ayesha Sultana; born 8 December 1944) is a retired Indian actress, primarily known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema, Tagore is the recipient of two National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award, and the Fi ...
, the well-known Indian actress and current chairperson of the Censor Board pressed for a third review. This review was handled in a way that clearly put Kumar at a disadvantage: Kumar received an email from the censor board on 28 December, while in Mumbai, informing him that the review would take place the very next day in New Delhi – 800 miles away. This unexpected shift in venue, and hurried timing of the notification, may have been designed to ensure that Kumar would not be able to present his case directly before the review committee. Following this review, the Censor Board awarded the film an "Adult" ("A") certificate. The award of an "Adult" certificate for a documentary is very unusual, since an Adult certificate is normally awarded to feature films that include graphic violence and nudity. Such films can be shown only to audiences over the age of 18, and most movie theatres in India will not ordinarily agree to screen such films since it is very difficult to for them to make money in the circumstances. (This is not the case, however, with India's burgeoning soft-porn industry, which relies upon the "A" certificates to attracts its particular audience.) The explanation for awarding ''Inshallah, Football'' was that the film has "characters talking about graphic details of physical and mental torture they had to undergo. The theme of the film is mature and some dialogues can be psychologically damaging for non-adult audience." Kumar, however, asserts that the real purpose of this censorship is to avoid causing embarrassment to the Indian government, with regard to the conduct of the
Indian armed forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...
in Kashmir.''My reaction to censorship on Inshallah Football''
Kashmir Dispatch, 24 December 2010
Mrs. Tagore made further comments on the 16th anniversary of the women's press corps that were reported by the online version of Outlook Magazine to which Kumar has responded in an open letter to Mrs. Tagore taking on the wider issue of censorship, the relevance of the censor board using Inshallah, Football as an illustration saying that her comments "...would be mildly amusing if they didn't also cast a shadow on the average Indian citizen's freedoms to produce and receive messages, and if they didn't potentially compromise the livelihood of members of my (and your) fraternity–those troublesome film-makers who don't toe the line and whose discomfiting messages the nation needs to hear."An open letter in response to Mrs. Sharmila Tagore's comments – censorship & untrue claims.
Facebook. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
A separate report of Mrs. Tagore's comments is more direct, calling Kumar's comments 'untrue'. Kumar has responded to this in the aforementioned open letter saying "You said that my statement about being denied a certification for my film Inshallah, Football was 'untrue'. I was hurt; after all, it is not often that I am called a liar in public." Mrs. Tagore has also said in the same interview that Inshallah, Football "(is) a beautiful film and I want everyone to see it," but Kumar counters, "Let me speak plainly. I think you have been used to stamp a sense of 'reasonableness' on the sordid affair of restricting freedom of speech. The decisions of the body you head need to be, or need to be seen to be, more moral, more conservative, more risk-averse, more politically correct and more circumspect (thus, in common parlance, more anal-retentive) than is natural or necessary, even if basic principles of natural justice need to be given a go-by from time to time.". The same open letter also appears on Kumar's blog where it has attracted a fair share of attention by way of adverse comments not only concerning censorship but the Kashmir issue as well The timing of this award of an Adult certificate to ''Inshallah, Football'' is curious, since it coincided with the award of an Adult certificate for a
No One Killed Jessica ''No One Killed Jessica'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed and written by Raj Kumar Gupta. It stars Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji in lead roles, with Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Myra Karn in supporting roles. The film ...
, a film based upon the
murder of Jessica Lall Jessica Lal (5 January 1965 – 30 April 1999) was a model in New Delhi who was working as a celebrity barmaid at a crowded socialite party when she was shot dead at around 2.00am on 30 April 1999. Dozens of witnesses pointed to Siddharth Vashis ...
by
Manu Sharma Siddharth Vashisht (born 1977), better known as Manu Sharma, is a murderer of Indian origin, convicted in 2006 to serve life imprisonment for the 1999 murder of Jessica Lal. He was released in June 2020. Sharma is the son of the former Indian Na ...
, a wealthy man with strong political ties to the ruling
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
. In both cases, there is an appearance of the Indian censor board having taken political considerations into account in their award of Adult certificates. Kumar says that he will now appeal to the CBFC tribunal


Inshallah Kashmir

Kumar's latest film on Kashmir
Inshallah Kashmir
is the story of contemporary
Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
. A series of counterpointed testimonies, the heartbreaking coming-of-age of ordinary people; warped and brutalised by two decades of militancy and its terrible response.
Tehelka ''Tehelka'' (Hindi: Sensation) is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and a ...
says, "Although the camera and narrator usually provide the impartial eye in a documentary, stitching the story together, in Inshallah, Kashmir it is the Kashmiris who weave their deadpan narrative into a cohesive picture. Their matter-of-fact monotone says more than an entire valley of screams could." The film won Kumar his second National Award, this time for Best Investigative Film.


Plot summary

Inshallah Kashmir opens with ex-militants describing the torture they underwent when captured by the army. A
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
describes his sentiment on being a part of the minority in the region at the height of militancy, when his grandfather was shot dead by militants. A politician and her husband describe the horror of being kidnapped and in captivity for over a month – and despite that, forming a human bond with the militants, and helping them escape when the army closed in on them. One understands from this section that militancy was not binary in nature. It was a dynamic and complex, resulting from various socio-political, economic and religious issues. Disappearances and fake encounters led to the creation of mass graves, hidden away in sensitive border areas that civilians and journalists are not permitted to access in the name of national security. Human rights lawyer and activist Parvez Imroz reveals to us the presence of almost a thousand such graves in the valley. Rape victims from Kunan Poshpora describe the trauma they went through at the hands of the army and the stigma that they still face due to the incident. The film then leads us to 'normalcy' or the social ramifications the last twenty years of devastation brought to the valley. Militancy in Kashmir resulted in the Government of India deploying tens of thousands of armed troops in the region. We hear the story of one boy who lost his leg because he was caught in crossfire. The film ends on a poignant note with a young artist saying 'I need my space.'


Online release

On 18 January, Alipur Films uploaded the first seven minutes of the film Inshallah Kashmir : Living Terror online. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter picked it up and the link had over a ten thousand hits in a week and generated curiosity and contempt alike. Views had crossed over fifty thousand within a week. The idea of releasing Inshallah Kashmir online and free of charge was to take the film to the masses, and to make it accessible to as many people as possible – in Kashmir, within India and around the world. The full film went online on 26 January 2012, on the Indian Republic day and had over almost fifteen thousand hits that day. Since then, the film has been screened at festivals around the world. The film has been given the 'A' certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification.


Filmography

*''Road to Ladakh'' (2003) *'' Little Terrorist'' (short film, 2004) *''The Forest'' (2009) *''
Inshallah, Football ''Inshallah, Football'' is a documentary film by Ashvin Kumar about an aspiring footballer who was denied the right to travel abroad on the pretext that his father was a militant in the 1990s. The film was completed in 2010, and has faced diffic ...
'' (2009) *''
Dazed in Doon ''Dazed In Doon'' is a 2010 film written and directed by Ashvin Kumar, who was invited by The Doon School (Kumar's alma mater) to create a fictional film set in the school to mark the school's 75th Founder's Day in 2010. It has since become con ...
'' (2010) *''
Inshallah, Kashmir ''Inshallah, Kashmir'' (also known as ''Inshallah, Kashmir: Living Terror'') is a 2012 documentary film directed, produced and written by Ashvin Kumar. It is the story of contemporary Kashmir. A series of counterpointed testimonies, the heartbre ...
'' (2012) *''I Am Not Here'' (2015) *'' No Fathers in Kashmir'' (2019)


Awards


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Ashvin Indian documentary filmmakers Film directors from Kolkata Film producers from Kolkata Indian documentary film editors The Doon School alumni Living people Censorship in India 1973 births 21st-century Indian film directors Film editors from West Bengal