Chronicles of a forgotten war

Not many Indians are aware that more than three million people died in the Bangladesh war of liberation in 1971, a genocide that was comparable to the Holocaust in its ferocity. It finds little mention in our history books or cultural narrative. It doesn't help either that Bollywood uses the 1971 war as a prop to generate masala flicks, like the recent Gunday.

Independent writer-director Mrityunjay Devvrat hopes to change that with his debut film Children of War that releases April 25 and boasts a cast including the late Farooque Shaikh, Victor Banerjee and Raima Sen. The film aims to make people aware of the devastating events that preceded the birth of Bangladesh and brings to light the price its people paid for freedom. "The Pakistani army used rape and religion, more than guns, as systematic weapons of war. Their idea was to break the genetic order and the spirit of the Bengali people. The war saw some of the worst incidents of human rights abuse in recent times and it is a shame that our people know so little about it," says Devvrat.

He got interested in the subject after reading the memoirs of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh who was assassinated with 23 members of his family in 1975. Devvrat learnt of this around the time when he was collecting money to make his first movie. "I have studied filming and made my share of corporate films and ads. I am in love with every aspect of cinema," he says, adding that he wanted to make meaningful cinema and not the usual 'masala crap'.

Being fiercely independent, he also didn't want any studio interference and decided to raise money for his own film, which he did for about 12 years.

Devvrat realised the potential of the human story of Bangladesh's liberation after he read the book and got down to researching and digging out more stories. He then wrote the script and approached actors. Despite being a first-time independent filmmaker, Devvrat managed a stellar cast that included Tillotama Shome, Pavan Malhotra, Indraniel Sengupta and Riddhi Sen.

"I was blessed with actors who believed in the story and the importance of telling it," he says. "It didn't take much convincing on my part. Soon after Farooque saab read the script, he sent me a message saying he is on."

Farooque Shaikh, who passed away in December last year, was a far better human being than an actor. "And we all know what a great actor he was," Devvrat says.

The making of the film, however, took its toll on the crew and actors. Part of the film dwells on the rape camps set up by the Pakistani army. Often, after filming some scenes, everyone on the sets would just observe silence. "Sometimes we would just switch off the camera and walk away. It was hard to imagine how low men could fall in the search of power," he says.

The director battled dilemmas about why he was recreating such unimaginable cruelty on screen but the motivation to tell an untold story kept him going.
The film has three threads — the story of a family in rural Bangladesh, of a husband whose wife is snatched and put in a rape camp and of the Bangladeshi intelligentsia that was attacked.

The screenplay of the film is unlike anything the Indian audience has seen till now and will take some time getting used to, says Devvrat.

Making his disdain for the Bombay 'film culture' apparent, he laments the fact that filmmaking has become all about marketing and maximising profits.

"Films are judged on the basis of the business they make within the first three days, whereas indie films take time to gather momentum at the box office. You have to give them at least two weeks so people hear about them and come to watch," he says.

He hopes, nevertheless, that a lot of people turn up to watch the film within the first weekend of its release so that the exhibitors see profit in keeping the movie running in theatres. It is, after all, a story that needs to be shown and known.