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Anand Patwardhan’s new film shows India’s freedom struggle through personal lens
Updated On: 17 January, 2024 06:12 AM IST | Mumbai | Suprita Mitter
Anand Patwardhan’s recent film looks at India’s history and its partition through the personal lens of conversations with his family
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Anand Patwardhan at his Dadar residence. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
It’s not often in these times that one comes across films or art that go against the tide. Over the years, documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan’s work, has been known to be fearless, frank, and honest. It has always raised questions about divisive politics based on caste and religion. His most recent work, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World Is Family), takes a look at India’s freedom struggle and some of the core values like unity and oneness, which years after its independence, seem to be under threat.
Unlike his previous work, this film has personal footage of his immediate and extended family, his home and his friends. There are intimate conversations filmed across three decades. The director films and interviews his late parents, Wasudev Hari Patwardhan (aka Balu) and Nirmala Patwardhan, his aunts, uncles, and friends. They talk about their memories of figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and BR Ambedkar. “When the interviews began, I soon understood that this was an oral history of the freedom movement in which my whole family had been deeply involved either as protagonists or as eyewitnesses. Today, that whole history is being erased and rewritten, so I decided to share this story. The film is clear enough for people to see the difference between history and mythology,” Patwardhan tells us.
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