After Biopic It’s LS Elections for National Award Winner Swaroop
National
Award winner Kamal Swaroop whose biopic Rangbhoomi based on the life of
late Dadasaheb Phalke won a National Award is currently documenting the
Lok Sabha Elections.
The
film maker is currently in Varanasi where he is shooting a 90 minute
documentary on the on going Lok Sabha Elections. "We are filming from 6 am till midnight, with three separate units tracking every party," he reveals.
The documentary titled Battle of Banaras is financed by a US Production House Medient...
The film tries to develop a connect between Varanasi's
mythological personality and the battle of ballots among BJP's Prime
Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Aam Aadmi Party's leader Arvind
Kejriwal and Congress' candidate Ajay Rai who are contesting from the
constituency.
"Fifty years from now, this fight will be looked back as an epic war. People will talk about it from a mythological point of view,” says Swaroop.
"The
idea to make this film is also to understand the way the election
machinery functions, the identity of the voters, the communal divide and
how the local population is directly affected by the ones who will take
charge” he adds.
He
further says that though the nature of the film is political, he is
apolitical as a person. "I am of the belief that whoever is in power
will have a strong tendency to abuse it. But, people admire powerful
people and choose to give them the power. In this case, there is so much
of it centering on one person, that if he takes office, it will become
impossible for him to contain it. Things will explode. More than
showcasing an ideological conflict, I am curious to document the
administration bit of this spectacle."
Swaroop, along with his crew will be in the holy city till May 20. "We are looking at a theatrical distribution as well as a festival run," he informs.
