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First
Punjabi film to make it to an international Film Festival of great repute Anhey Gorhey da Daan ਅੰਨ੍ੇ
ਘੋੜੇ
ਦਾ
ਦਾਨ
(Alms
of the Blind Horse) a film in Punjabi directed by Gurvinder Singh and based on the novel of the same title on the
so-called Dalit theme by Gurdial Singh has been selected for the 68th
Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica - Venice International Film
Festival - to be held from 31st August 2011 to 10th
September 2011. This is the first Punjabi film to make it to an
international Film Festival of great repute and that too in the
Competition section. This is indeed a proud day for Punjab. The
film produced by the Indian National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) was shot in Bathinda earlier this year. It has all non-professional
local Punjabi cast except the one main role played by Samuel John of
Patiala.
Samuel
John who plays the main role of Melu. Photos by Sunayna Singh Anhey
Ghorhey Da Daan / Alms of the Blind Horse Synopsis On a foggy winter morning, a family in a village in
Punjab wakes up to the news of the demolition of a house on the outskirts
of the village. Father, a silent sympathiser, joins the community in
demand for justice. The same day, his son Melu, a rickshaw puller in the
city, is participating in a strike by his union. Injured and alienated,
Melu spends the day quietly resting and hesitantly drinks with friends in
the night as they debate the meaning of their existence. Cycling through
the city streets, Melu feels lost and wonders where to go and what to do.
Back in the village, his mother feels humiliated at the treatment meted
out by the landlords in whose fields she works. Gunshots are heard in the
night and the village is tense. It’s the night of the lunar eclipse. A
man wanders asking for the traditional alms while Father decides to visit
the city with a friend, even as his daughter Dayalo walks through the
village streets in the night.
Emmanuel
Singh and Kulwinder Kaur
Serbjeet
Kaur as Dayalo
Director’s
Comment: The human face is a landscape. The
lived reality of the face reflects time: endured, lived and suffered.
Cinema unravels time through the movement in space. The visible evokes the
invisible through relationships, contexts, gestures, conflicts. There is
the immediate invisible, off screen: the image confronting sound, space
confronting space, time confronting time. Then there is the larger cosmic
invisible, devoid of cause and effect paradigm, layered through centuries.
Anhey Ghorhey Da Daan tries to
evoke the effect of years of subordination of the struggling classes
reflected in the macrocosm of events spinning beyond their control. It’s
about silent witnesses devoid of power to change or influence the course
of destiny, about the invisible violence of power equation and simmering
discontent reflected on their faces.
Gurvinder
Singh
Gurdial
Singh. Photo by Subhash Parihar Graduated from Delhi University in 1995, worked briefly as a
graphic artist in advertising before post graduating from Pune University.
Went on to study film direction at the Film and Television Institute of
India (FTII), Pune, graduating in 2001. Documented subaltern folk
music in Punjab from 2002 to 2006. Made documentaries on the arts for the
next few years, besides painting and cooking. Anhey Ghorhey da Daan
is his first feature film. Currently living in Pune. Cast & Crew Main Cast: Mal
Singh, Samuel John, Serbjeet Kaur, Dharminder Kaur, Emmanuel Singh,
Kulwinder Kaur, Lakha Singh, Gurvinder Makhna Script & Direction: Gurvinder Singh Story: Gurdial
Singh (based on the novel of the same name) Dialogues:
Gurdial Singh, Jasdeep Singh Music: Catherine
Lamb Camera:
Satya Rai Nagpaul Sound: Mandar
Kulkarni Editing:
Ujjwal Chandra Production Design:
Pankaj Dhimaan Line Producer:
Kartikeya Narayan Singh Executive Producers:
Neena Lath Gupta & Vikramjit Roy Creative Producer: Mani
Kaul Producer:
National Film Development Corporation Limited
Mal
Singh as father in front of the house that was constructed and demolished
for the shoot • |
