The world is family—is it?

Anand Patwardhanrsquos Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam The World is Family is one of his most moving and tender yet compelling documentaries It was a privilege to have the world premiere of this film at the Toronto International Film Festival TIFF to whom Irsquom Senior Programme Advisor South Asia It was shown in the TIFF Docs sectionPatwardhan is among the worldrsquos most acclaimed documentary makers with a formidable body of work of about 19 films over nearly 50 years that includes Waves of Revolution short 1974 to Prisoners of Conscience Ram Ke Naam In the Name of God Father Son and Holy War War and Peace Jai Bhim Comrade Vivek Reason and now Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam in 2023In his previous work Patwardhanrsquos approach has been combativemdashdemanding accountability justice highlighting discrimination speaking truth to power on a range of issues from the Emergency of 1975 the unionisation of immigrant workers in Canada the rise of rightwing power religion and patriarchy Dalit issues and much more In Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam he turns his gaze inwards looking at his own life his parentsrsquo and familyrsquos life and their involvement in the Gandhian and independence movements the secular values he inherited that have been rapidly squandered in the current regime For the first time we see a vulnerable Patwardhan yet a man who is not afraid to crymdashand that is disarming There is tenderness in his relationship with his family especially his father and uncles His mother nee Nirmala Dialdas who was born in Hyderabad Sindh in what is now Pakistan went to Shantiniketan and became an acclaimed potter Patwardhan says when young he was competing with his motherrsquos pottery and had feelings of abandonment as he was put in boarding schools as she travelled the world for her pottery She makes his father promise he wonrsquot die before her and as fate would have it she passes away first then his fatherThere is a lot of archival footage as we see how his familyrsquos deep involvement in Gandhirsquos as well as the independence movementmdashnotably his uncles Rau and Achyutmdashran parallel to the nationrsquos history as well as charming and heartbreaking home movie footage over the years His father Balu Patwardhan jokes ldquoI am the only one in the family who never went to jailrdquo We sense a looking back on a lifetime and despair at the communal rift that has deepened dramatically He has footage of feisty contemporary resistance and a defence of human rights at the antiCAA and antiNRC rallies in Mumbai He has footage of himself visiting his maternal home in Pakistan on an earlier visit through peace movements between India and Pakistan that were once possible and finds his home has been turned into a hospital Although the tone of the film is much quieter and inward without explicitly saying it Patwardhan still holds us the viewers accountable demanding that we do our bit to set the country on the right path to uphold humanity above all religions There is haunting music especially at the climax with a Kabir poem hauntingly rendered by Kumar Gandharva a deeply philosophical approach to death It is a film that will remain in our hearts for long more importantly Patwardhan may prefer that it is also seen as a call to actionmdashand time is running out Worldwide it is already being highly sought after I hope the film will be seen widely in IndiaMeenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival National Awardwinning critic curator to festivals worldwide and journalistReach her at meenakshisheddemiddaycom