“Stereotypical” portrayal of India by foreign directors/photographers has of late been much in debate. From Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ to Coldplay’s video – Hymn For The Weekend, western directors/producers endear to show India as a land of snake charmers. Oh, and how they love to show miles of slums that run beyond Mumbai’s suburbs, naked poor children and frail mothers. But this generation hopes to end this myth forever.
Shubham Singh, director of a short film ‘Slumdog Millionaire 2’, wants the world to recognize India for its worth and this, he feels, is possible if the message of Clean India runs far and wide. He and his team have put this film together to create a slapstick-of-sorts on the possible impact this mission could have.
“The film shows the mentality of foreigners towards India. It hypotheses Danny Boyle’s desire to re-create ‘Slumdog millionaire’, says Singh.
“I feel if the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan mission succeeds, India will be viewed in a different light”, Singh added.
The film was originally conceptualized by a freelance journalist, Ashutosh Kumar Pandey. He believes that with such light-hearted humour, people may be drawn to the campaign.
According to the film’s Creative head Akhilesh Choudhary, ‘Clean India’ should not just be taken as a mission, but a daily chore, as responsible citizens.
There has been a hue and cry over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’. Despite huge political and financial investment the mission so far has been a failure. Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) reports, the mission has been facing strain to achieve desired results owing to the struggle to bring in the much required behavioural change among people to use toilets, keep their surroundings clean, etc.
