The December incident of Gangrape in Delhi caused a thought stirring revolt in the country. A short film titled ‘Maya’ has been based on the incident and this film has now made it to the short film category of the Cannes festival.
The people who have made the film are three media professionals who are also friends. Anmol Karnik has directed the film and the other two professionals are Saloni Choujar and Sanjeev Mallik. They have made their film by themselves, including arrangement of equipment, editing and even acting in the film. The incident touched them in such a way that they decided they should make a movie on the subject.
Karnik told the Times of India about making the film. “Everyone here in Mumbai was talking about the incident, discussing it and questioning the happenings. People were debating as to whether the victim was responsible for what happened, or how to perceive the situation. Sonali is playing the character Maya in the film, and we have tried to focus on the mental and physical torture that the victim has to go through. Sonali has done her research on the subject and has even spoken to therapists to know what goes on with the victim after she is subjected to rape,” he stated.
Anmol said that they took only a month to complete the film. “We started the filming in February and we were done by the end of March. We didn’t have the funding to hire actors and cast, so we acted in the movie ourselves. However, acting is not what I want to do,” grinned Anmol, who has a degree in filmmaking from Los Angeles. He has worked with some big banners like Warners Brothers and California Film Commission and also edited films for Greyg Helvey, the Oscar nominated short filmmaker.
Anmol feels that short films give new filmmakers a chance to showcase their talents. He said, “There are so many film festivals you can send your films to, and that helps in networking. Good work is always appreciated. Even if we don’t get paid for our work, our talent is appreciated.” Anmol is also planning to make a short film on the water crisis in Mumbai and other parts of India.
“We were just another bunch of people in the crowd disturbed by the incident and when we made the film, we never even thought about Cannes. But when the festival came up, we sent it and were delighted when we got selected!” said Anmol.
