Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah says documentary cinema has the power to bring about a change in the society.
Naseeruddin Shah was present here on Wednesday, along with eminent filmmakers like Nandita Das, Rajkumar Hirani and Rahul Dholakia, on a panel discussion hosted by the Indian Documentary Foundation.
Sharing his viewpoint, Naseer said: “I think I started watching some of the good documentaries when I went to FTII, Pune… Though I have been part of many films that addressed social issues and with the intention of bringing change in society, I think I have understood that documentary films can bring a change in our society.”
They used to run documentary films before every feature film and they were so boring that people used to reach the cinema theatres late. Common people have the notion that documentaries are boring.
“However, (after) watching some of the international documentaries along with some made by Shyam Benegal, Mani Kaul, I realised their importance,” he added.
When Naseeruddin was asked whether it was possible to bring jaane bhi do yaaro as documentary . He said it’s very difficult as that movie was difficult to make at that time itself. Nandita Das said that documentary should be made interesting as people HV the notion that documentaries are boring. They are not marketed as per the requirement. Today there is digital platforms through which these documentaries can be shown .
The panel discussion was conducted by Javed Jaffri, actor and co-founder of Good Pitch India, a non-profit organisation that support documentary filmmakers. They also launched a campaign called #FILMSFORCHANGE.
Good Pitch India has also selected four socially-relevant documentary films — “Climbing Uphill”, “Her Song”, “#MISSING GIRLS” and “Writing With Fire”, whose filmmakers will be introduced to corporate companies, NGOs, campaigners, philanthropists, etc., at an event.
The event will take place at National Centre of Performing Arts (NCPA) on April 4, and will be moderated by Kiran Rao.
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