For multi-faceted Pavitra Chalam, films provide a medium to bring change.
“I was a drug addict. I have tried all kinds of drugs that are available in the country. I had become a slave of my own body,” says Suvrat Babu in the documentary film
My Friend Addict, directed by Pavitra Chalam. The film centres around the Dare Foundation that has helped over 600 addicts and their families across India. It also explores the various methods implemented by the foundation to bring the addict back to a normal way of living.
An athlete, a national level roller skater, and a documentary filmmaker, Pavitra Chalam chose the path of filmmaking as the means to bring forth social issues that need attention.
She represented India at the Youth Initiative for Peace in Pakistan where she made her film debut with Bus — a cinematic exposition of the shared ideals of the youth of both nations. As a journalist at the World Youth Congress in Morocco, Pavitra contributed to the creation of the Casablanca Declaration presented to the United Nations.
Her filmmaking journey began soon after being selected by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) for a course in Broadcast Journalism. She went on to graduate from the prestigious New York Film Academy. Till date, she has made more than 20 films. Anamika — Her Glorious Past, a documentary on devadasis was her thesis at NYFA. Later, it received critical acclaim at the Sixth Indo American Arts Council (IAAC) Film Festival, 2006 in New York.
Pavitra has worked with many organisations such as Conzerv, Khushboo, Karunashraya and Dream a Dream. “I would like to continue to be the voice of communities that have no way of reaching out; the platform for events and heroes that might go unnoticed in the years to come and reconstruct and eternalise moments of raw human emotion that give us meaning and purpose,” she says.
She was voted Radio Indigo Woman of the year in 2007 by the city of Bangalore. She received the state-wide Young Achiever Award, 2009 instituted by the Brigade Group in Association with Rotary Bangalore Midtown and the Young Communicator Award, 2009 instituted by the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication. The awards were given to her for her change-inducing, sensitive and culturally reverent filmmaking.
Her favourite directors? She says, “Satyajit Ray, Pedro Almodovar, Kurosawa, Scorsese, Kubrick, The Coen Brothers and Tarantino are some of my favourites. Their vision and groundbreaking style leave me awestruck.”
She adds, “We take everything for granted. I want my films to make my audience pause and ask themselves, ‘How can I be part of this? How can I contribute? What difference can I make?’ I would like to make people negotiate life as more responsible and caring citizens. This is my dream.”
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