Coming soon: Films starring corporators

Puneu00a0and Pimpri-Chinchwad corporators invest big bucks in filming documentaries on their work to gain mileage with their political bosses and voters ahead of civic elections

Hundreds of corporators from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) have been getting tech-savvy and resorting to innovative means to woo voters and score brownie points with their party bosses ahead of the municipal elections. The latest trend is to make documentaries highlighting the work done by a corporator.


Lights, camera, action: Filmmaker Vandana Jain interviews Congress
member of the PMC Education Board Anil Sondkar for a documentary
on him

Some have reportedly spent anything between Rs 15,000 and Rs 1 lakh to document on film all the work they have done and how they have put their corporator funds to use for development. Though such documentaries have been made earlier, the trend has really caught on this year.

Flashback
In the past, documentaries were made by Congress corporators and MLC Anil Bhosale, former Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor and MLA Laxman Jagtap, MLA and former mayor Vilas Lande and Shiv Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil. Former city Congress corporator Sadanand Shetty had also got a documentary film made on him.

Anil Sondkar, Congress member of the PMC Education Board, has also spent money on a documentary film to be made on him."The 35-minute documentary film will have me narrating my political history of the last 40 years. The documentary also depicts my work as Pune Municipal Transport chairman. I have used many pictures in the film. My own Priyadarshani Trust work for senior citizens has also been depicted in the film. We are not heroes but politicians who share the issues and problems faced by the common man," Sondkar said.

Vilas Lande, former mayor and the current MLA from Pimpri-Chichwad, said: "The legal documents and pictures taken of the projects done by me are not enough. I wanted to show audio-visual proof of my constituency, where roads and sewage treatment projects were undertaken. The 20-minute film on my work, with an interview, has helped me a lot."

Vijaya Dahiphale, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate during the last PMC election, said documentaries were necessary as otherwise it was difficult to explain a politician's body of work to voters.

"In my own documentary, I will be able to show how I have helped women in my ward. My efforts for unemployed youths in the film shall show the depth of my work," she said.Vandana Jain, who is making a documentary for politicians with filmmaker M Sajid Azam, said: "I approach the corporators by studying their background and also get ideas about the issue the corporator wants to highlight through the film.

These documentary CDs are not more than 20 minutes and give a brief account with visuals, pictures and also some past video clippings. We also interview corporators or let them speak with the visuals and pictures around. In many such documentaries we also take the reactions of the people in the ward or constituency."

Prasad Zore and Prashant Malani, who are also making films on elected members in the PMC and PCMC, said that BJP women candidates are also keen to make documentaries on their works. "BJP's Seema Sardesai, Manisha Ghate, Varsha Tapkir, Vandana Bhimale, Sunita Chintal and Kavita Vairage want to make documentaries on their work. This shall start from next month," Zore said. "Rekha Tingare, Sunil Tingare and Sanjay Bhosale from the NCP have also approached us and are keen on making documentaries on their work."

Docus on Pawars
> Bhumiputra is a documentary that was made on Nationalist Congress Party top boss Sharad Pawar on his birthday recently.
> Commander, a film on Ajit Pawar and his work as the guardian of Pune district, was made recently.