In an interview, Bharatbala talks about his journey and why he is breaking free from all definitions. A writer once said, “To define is to limit.” Bharatbala’s limitless repertoire of stories on celluloid tells us there is an India that is beautiful. It is for us to go behind the beauty and find more. In that, these films do their bit.
I want to meet the poet who writes with the conviction that his words might bring some change. That’s the audacity of belief. Maybe one day, we will all write letters to Haldhar Nag and to many others who can gaze at the setting sun.
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#HaldharNag #Gulzar #Bharatbala #VirtualBharat #IndianPoetry #AdivasiVoices #KosaliPoetry #ArtAndCulture #DocumentaryFilm #UntoldStories #RamnamiSamaj #DalitResistance #PoetryInMotion #Storytelling #IndiaUnseen #FilmmakingBeyondGenres
I want to meet the poet who writes with the conviction that his words might bring some change. That’s the audacity of belief. Maybe one day, we will all write letters to Haldhar Nag and to many others who can gaze at the setting sun.
Follow us:
Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/
X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia
Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia
#HaldharNag #Gulzar #Bharatbala #VirtualBharat #IndianPoetry #AdivasiVoices #KosaliPoetry #ArtAndCulture #DocumentaryFilm #UntoldStories #RamnamiSamaj #DalitResistance #PoetryInMotion #Storytelling #IndiaUnseen #FilmmakingBeyondGenres
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FunTranscript
00:00So, when you go into Bastar and you live with these Adivasis, yes, they may have a mobile
00:07phone and they will be WhatsApping, but they still keep their core values, core relationship
00:14with the environment and their lifestyle very Barkarar.
00:30Hi, welcome to Outlook Talks with Bharatwala. Bharatwala is a great filmmaker, also a really
00:36fun person to talk to and to just give a little background of how I came to know about Bharatwala
00:44is I met him in Hampi and he was there for Outlook Traveller event and there was this
00:50one film we saw which was about this poet from Odisha, Haldar and I think that film
00:57was so beautifully done that I think I had tears in my eyes and the person next to me
01:03also was a little bit crying and then we had this other story, he showed I think three
01:07films if I am not wrong, one was the Kerala one, the other one was the Ramnami community
01:14in Chhattisgarh which we also used for one of our covers when we looked at who is Ram
01:21basically questioning the identity of Ram because sometimes Avatar, sometimes God, sometimes
01:26human and all of that and we used his photograph and over the years I have like bumped into
01:32him here and there and so yeah, so I just wanted to ask you about your 1000 movie project
01:39and these are small small films where you know you are picking up all these like Jejuri
01:44showed me the one Gujjars you know, so how do you come upon these ideas and how you know
01:50how do you shoot them, how do you distill it like to this one narrow thing?
01:55Today's audience, their consumption is that they want to see something quick, so we have
02:03to figure out how to create the same impact whether they watch a 40-minute film or they
02:09watch this under 10-minute film, so it's just that how do we edit it and present it like
02:16that so nothing is small.
02:19No, in the sense like the duration because in that much time you are going through a
02:24range of emotions, so you know like for example when I saw that Haldar film I was like I need
02:29to meet this poet, you know you want to meet these people then, so I just wanted to ask
02:33you how did the idea germinate firstly and how did you go about and you've written in
02:38our issue also about this freedom to create and freedom from genre, freedom from format,
02:44how did you kind of?
02:46I think I should go back to my very beginning where when I started like you know I'm a zoology
02:55student who wanted to do medicine and couldn't get a medical seat and stumbled upon to become
03:05a filmmaker, now when I came in so there was no formal learning, so I just was free, so
03:13my only thing was from the very beginning collaborate with the best talent for that
03:20idea, so it doesn't matter where they are in this planet, I'll go and find the right
03:26cinematographer, the right editor, the right composer, so you just bring the right energy
03:31into that, so whether it was advertising commercials and I like very naturalistic environment,
03:41I want you know in advertising you try to glamorize everything right, but I want to
03:46glamorize what exists, I don't want to package it and glamorize it, so the real thing, real
03:52emotions right.
03:53And why did you want to tell these stories, that was something that I never kind of?
03:58Yeah, you know I think, over the last 30 years I've traveled the length and breadth of this
04:06country and whenever I meet people, they fascinate me and that connect with people
04:14across you know the real heartland of India, moves me every time that honesty, the love,
04:22the simplicity and so much more to learn from them and that I feel that as a filmmaker,
04:30I want to go and tell stories, what stories can I say, I don't want to cook stories, I
04:35want to take stories that exist, so that was the opportunity and said okay, I don't care,
04:41let's just make, go across India and you know it's not some, there's so many stories which
04:49move you, which inspire you and we have never seen it.
04:53So for example, there's a film in Tamil Nadu, it's a place called Kulasekara Pattina and
05:02there during Dussehra, they have this kind of a congregation of people where they offer
05:10themselves and become like a Kali to get the demon out of them.
05:15Now every man dresses as a woman, okay.
05:20Now it's like mason, farmer, fisherman, everyday people for that 40 days transform themselves
05:31into that.
05:32Now that story in Tamil Nadu, people don't know.
05:37So when I made this film, it was an eye-opener for them.
05:42So it's about how you connect even within the community itself, there's so much to showcase.
05:48Anyway, it's a long answer I gave you.
05:50I'm not so great also sometimes, but another thing I wanted to ask you that you wrote in
05:54your piece that you had this conversation with your father, your father was a photographer
05:58and this visual thing around you, but you talked about idea, what is an idea?
06:06So you talked about two, three things like emotion, idea.
06:09Then obviously when you make a film, there's always like this whole thing of a plot, narrative,
06:15structure, all kinds of things.
06:17So how do you wed all of these firstly, or do you do that?
06:22I mean, or you don't?
06:23I don't put any form and shape to story.
06:26I think every time you go into a story, you're at ground zero.
06:32The story will guide you to how to say it well.
06:35So tell me with an example how the story guided you in one of your films.
06:39Maybe if you could talk about, let's say the one Gujjar.
06:43I'll talk about a feature film of mine.
06:46Now I came across an article in a newspaper in Mumbai some 12 years ago.
06:56Reporters exist in Mumbai?
06:57Yeah.
06:58No, there are stories.
06:59We just have to keep our eyes open to find them.
07:01Completely.
07:02It was such a small article that in Sudan, immigrant workers working in the oil fields
07:10in Sudan, Indian immigrant workers were kidnapped by child soldiers.
07:15Yeah.
07:16I've seen that.
07:17Yeah.
07:18And then I said, oh my God.
07:20Then when I went deeper, one of the characters, or I won't say because I'm talking film language,
07:27I call them as the characters.
07:29One of the persons in the lead person in the story had a compelling love story.
07:35And he did this idea to escape purely because he wanted to come back to meet his love.
07:44Otherwise he's going to die there.
07:48So that moved me to find that story.
07:51And so ideas are there in every nook and corner.
07:54That phone call was like, then you fictionalized it.
07:57Yes.
07:58Yeah.
07:59That was a beautiful scene.
08:00Yeah.
08:01Because, but still for me, even if I take a creative license, it has to have a hundred
08:08percent honesty.
08:10You need to believe, you need to feel that it's real.
08:13How will you move me only when I feel with that scene?
08:17Otherwise I'm just watching that scene.
08:19Exactly.
08:20I don't want to watch things.
08:21Yeah.
08:22I mean, you're also doing something, which I thought was interesting, but you're also
08:26reporting in a way that how we do it, right?
08:29Like we go out and find stories and kind of tell them in text format.
08:33You're reporting, you're also archiving.
08:35So how do you see your role as an archivist in a way where you aim to make thousand films?
08:42And obviously there are questions about funding.
08:44How do you get, firstly, how do you find these stories?
08:47Somebody tells you, you read something.
08:49How do you, and then how do you kind of decide, okay, I'm going to go do this.
08:53And when you know a story, then how do you reach that emotion?
08:57Because you talked about emotion, there has to be an emotion in the idea.
09:02So you define that idea and the emotion.
09:05Yeah.
09:06I think ideas for me is like first find the story and then within the story, you'll find
09:13the idea.
09:14But I don't know whether idea comes first or story comes first.
09:18It just keeps happening.
09:19I haven't structured it, thought about it, you know, but how do you find the stories?
09:27I think today everybody asks me the same question.
09:31So first thing I went randomly, I said, let me make 50 films, one from Punjab, one from
09:37Maharashtra, from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, all these and do contrasting stories to prove
09:44to ourselves and my team, yes, we can do it.
09:48Okay.
09:49Now, again, another newspaper article, it said there's a place near Ludhiana in called
09:56Beni Sahib in Punjab, where every child, today's kid, learns classical music.
10:06Now they are, you know, whatever you call it, Gen Z, they are Instagramming, they're
10:12doing that, you know, they are always on social media.
10:15But every evening, you walk that alley of in Beni Sahib, there is sangeet coming from
10:23every house.
10:24So we went and made a film on that.
10:28And it's such a ethereal, beautiful film on music and just, you know, the next Shriya
10:34Ghoshal will come from that land.
10:37It's that beauty.
10:38So I think, like, one more, it was 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi, three years ago.
10:47So I, for me, I don't know, because my father was a Gandhi and always want to find and continue
10:56this idea and see how relevant it is to times.
11:00So the thought was, let's find out how many people today are alive and who are very close
11:08to Mahatma Gandhi.
11:09We found eight or nine of them.
11:12And can you believe till then, I didn't know, two kilometers away from my house lives V.
11:19Kalyanam.
11:21He was the last private secretary to Mahatma Gandhi.
11:24And he was there with him just few inches away when he was shot.
11:29And he lived, so he has all his letters.
11:32He has conversations and he tells in first person.
11:36He doesn't call him Mahatma.
11:37He says, Gandhi did this.
11:38I asked Gandhi like that.
11:40So, you know, that truth to be recorded and preserved.
11:47And he was 94 and he was living by himself alone as a Gandhian.
11:52And he does everything himself, like gardening, cooking, and then reading, writing, everything
11:59he did by himself.
12:01And he's no more.
12:02So we documented it.
12:03We archived him.
12:04Yeah.
12:05Archived him.
12:06I think, you know, we all know it's, you know, it is happening, like evolution, change.
12:14And now probably it's even faster.
12:17But there are certain things which don't die.
12:20It's just that we believe it's gone.
12:23So when you go into Bastar and you live with these Adivasis, yes, they may have a mobile
12:30phone and they will be WhatsApping.
12:32But they still keep their core values, core relationship with the environment and their
12:39lifestyle very ban karar.
12:42But is it the idea is to just show these traditional things or people and the ways of life?
12:49Because there's a lot of other stuff that also happens.
12:51Like, for instance, if you look at, let's say, Ramnami, which we cover, there's also
12:57the violence in the name of Ram.
13:01And there's caste, obviously, you know, there's gender, you know, and there's a parallel narrative
13:06which we are, obviously, you've written for this Independence Day issue.
13:09And that's what we've looked at, you know, this Isaiah Berlin's philosophy thing of negative
13:14and positive liberty.
13:15You know, you have freedom from and freedom to, but each freedom also comes at some kind
13:20of this thing.
13:21So there is all this, it's beautiful, people are taking like the Ramnami, they talked about
13:27they were not allowed to enter the temples and whatever, so they tattooed the name of
13:32Ram on all over their bodies.
13:35But then there's the other side also.
13:37So is that a conscious decision on your part to not really go into it and just leave it
13:45to the point where somebody like me would get more curious and kind of, because that's
13:49how we got led into the issue?
13:52See, I leave the judgment to the audience, okay?
13:57If you watch any of our virtual Bharat films, editorially, it is the story is the editor.
14:06I don't try to put and tweak it editorially to make them feel what I want to say.
14:14I don't anchor it, okay?
14:16Let's take a Ramnami where, yes, it was a very painful thing.
14:21It's about the caste issue.
14:23It is about, and it still happens, okay?
14:26But we made them speak.
14:28So the first line he says is, ame kuch farak nahi padta.
14:32So his rebel is present in the way he speaks.
14:36So we don't try to hide anything under the carpet.
14:40The idea is, I don't make political films.
14:44But everything is so political.
14:46Let it be.
14:47Let it be.
14:48For example, let's just go back to Vande Matram, okay?
14:53When I made Vande Matram, I didn't say, hey, merku patriotism ke baare mein banana hai.
14:59Nah.
15:00It's just an idea.
15:01I wanted to showcase how you can instill a sense of something in subconsciously, a sense
15:07of love, sense of pride, just make you feel good.
15:12That's it.
15:13Now, I have two other questions about, so you are an artist, and you were bringing out
15:19this issue on Alice Munro.
15:20I don't know if you know about the controversy that happened, and whether art can be separate
15:24from the artist.
15:25You know, you are an artist, and you are making all this.
15:29Is your art reflecting who you are, or is it kind of completely different, like a lot
15:34of people would like to also believe?
15:36I think, subconsciously, you cannot separate art and artist.
15:43Exactly, yeah.
15:45Because somewhere, how do you shape that art?
15:48It is the artist in you that shapes that art.
15:51So, jo aapko kehna aap aajayenge.
15:54Wo artist bhi toh, wo aagmi bhi toh hai na.
15:57So, I can't separate this.
15:59It's like, it's the soul and the form are together.
16:06Every story, I want to connect with that.
16:08They don't need to see me, they don't need to know me, but they know through me, my work.
16:12Yeah, because your work has that thing, because you know, at the end of whatever films I have
16:17watched, you do have a smile at the end.
16:19Yeah.
16:20In the sense where I was watching that Haldar film, I've watched it so many times, I've
16:23shown it to people.
16:24How did you get that idea of this letter from Gulzar?
16:27Haldar mein tumhe khat le.
16:29How do you stitch together this kind of, because it was so unusual that Gulzar is writing this
16:33letter.
16:35So, when the film was edited, I just said, let me go and show it to Gulzar ji.
16:40I love Gulzar ji and he genuinely loves me too.
16:44Okay.
16:45So, when I played it to him, he says, yeh toh bahut hi badiya hai.
16:51So he said, what do you want, aap mujhse kya karwana chahate hain?
16:55Ine ka nahi, it just, a poet has to celebrate another poet.
17:00I'm not using him as a celebrity.
17:02I said, you celebrate Haldar.
17:05So he said, okay, I'll watch the film again and I'll call you.
17:10So next day he called me and said, Bharat, main Haldar ko ek khat likra hoon.
17:17Haldar, main tujhe khat likra hoon.
17:20So I said, wow.
17:21And then he narrated what he is writing in his letter.
17:24And the essence of Haldar is presented in the first four lines of Gulzar ji.
17:30Yeah, and how do you like do the funding because how do you find the money because it requires
17:36a lot of…
17:37Yeah, the first 50 films, we self-funded it, okay.
17:41Then I want to find visionary partners.
17:43I am saying this country or people across this world, they are people who have a big
17:49heart and believe in the same vision that this is important.
17:53So I reached out to Azeem Premji Foundation and they came in first and supported.
18:01And then Government of Chhattisgarh saw the Ramnami film and invited us and said, make
18:08five films of your choice.
18:10So I chose Bastar because I've never been to Bastar.
18:13Today, I think we should give it to the technology that the accessibility is so easy that people
18:24are open to watching new things.
18:25See earlier they didn't have access to it.
18:28Now they have access to.
18:29And then I think once the… you should see our comments in the YouTube.
18:3499.99% people, oh my God, I didn't know this.
18:39People are watching from different parts and we have a great Spanish following.
18:47Oh!
18:48Yeah.
18:49I don't know where all, but data shows that we have a good Spanish following.
18:56So now we're making these films in multiple languages.
18:59They're going to take it in Japanese, Spanish, French, German, all of that.
19:03Great.
19:04The other thing that you said about how, why would this person watch this film?
19:08I think it also requires a fresh set of eyes and a story that was taught to us in journalism
19:13school.
19:14So there was this Vietnam War and there were two correspondents and both were, I can name
19:19Michael or something.
19:20And one was a horticultural reporter and one was the war correspondent.
19:23So when the editor sent the email, it wrongly went to the horticulture guy.
19:27He went to Vietnam.
19:28And he started writing these dispatches from Vietnam, like flowers blooming in wartime.
19:33He had a completely different way of looking at the war.
19:36And those became some of the most beautiful dispatches ever, because sometimes you're
19:41covering the same thing over and over again.
19:44You look at the obvious like obvious, but you don't really look at...
19:48So maybe that's one of the ideas.
19:50The other thing is...
19:51My father was a war correspondent.
19:54So he went for this both 69, 71 and all.
19:58So one such story, it still resonates with me, is like when they crossed into, I think
20:06must be Bangladesh.
20:09So he went in a battle tank.
20:12And when they went into the village, the tank, they found there was nobody there.
20:17Not a soul.
20:18Everybody, you know, ran away from the village.
20:21But there was one old 85 or 90 year old lady who couldn't even stand up.
20:27So they left her there and went.
20:29So the soldiers from the tank, Indian Army, went down, found a tokri, basket, put her
20:38inside that, took her in the tank and went to villages to find their family and said,
20:44you take care of her.
20:46So at war, imagine.
20:47Yeah.
20:48Yeah.
20:49Amazing story.
20:50Amazing story.
20:51I was looking at your books as well.
20:52So, I mean, you have Toni Morrison, very vocal about certain things and you have Margaret
20:57Atwood.
20:58I mean, she was writing speculative fiction, dystopia.
21:01So how do you, you are reading dystopia, but you're also looking at utopias, mini utopia.
21:06How do you, how do you separate, you know, like, how do you not be like all gloom and
21:11doom like us?
21:12You know, everything is like bad or.
21:15No, I think when you meet people, especially when you go and meet people who have lived
21:21life, your perspective altogether changes.
21:23But there are also people who have really struggled in life also.
21:26Yeah, but then there's something you really get enriched with them.
21:30And then you know what?
21:31They don't ask anything from you.
21:32Yeah.
21:33They are only willing to give it to you.
21:35You feel so small.
21:37And they say, hey, best is to get from them how they lived their life and get that blessing.
21:43And I think that's very inspiring.
21:45And the other thing was like, you know, this art and artist we talked about, but the other
21:50big debate in the art world was art for art's sake or art should have a purpose.
21:55What do you think it should be?
21:57I think there's nothing wrong to be political.
21:59Exactly.
22:00Because as long as you can present all aspects of politics, leave it to the, don't trust
22:06anything.
22:07So, what do you say about the art for art's sake and art for purpose?
22:15Yeah.
22:16So, for me, our life is just this much, make some sense of it.
22:21So for me, purpose is important.
22:25But art is the vehicle I use.
22:29Everything is art.
22:30What is art to you?
22:31Like, what is it?
22:32I mean, I should look at art and feel happy or should it provoke something?
22:37No, you know, happiness is one aspect of it.
22:41But I also love pathos.
22:44I want to feel the emotion like that, because then only I feel complete.
22:50Why do I, if I don't resonate with emotions, if I just be flat with one emotion, it's not
22:55working for me.
22:57Even anger is critical.
22:59Okay.
23:00Yeah.
23:01So, I think that piece of art, what it is meant for, it should present its best emotion
23:08to the audience, whoever wants.
23:10Is your technique changing or not changing or evolving into something different as you
23:16go along?
23:17How do you kind of pick up stories?
23:18Your picking up stories also has changed, the ideas have changed.
23:22Are you looking to tell, like, because I saw that one Gujjar story and then at the end
23:27of it, you mentioned Forrest Wright's act, in that film, like, it's spectacularly short,
23:34but I didn't understand, like, in the sense, like, the way, like, I would, you know, the
23:39film moves you, right?
23:40So, Aaldaar movie, this one did not.
23:42So, is it like, how do you, like, pick up in terms of what is the reaction that you're
23:48looking at?
23:49And also, are your techniques changing, the kind of stories you're picking up changing?
23:52See, I don't seek reactions, because sometimes I can't put masala into the film, the film
23:59speaks.
24:00Of course, yeah.
24:01But what was interesting for me from one Gujjar is, I didn't know that that community of
24:07Muslims are vegetarians, because they don't want to harm the environment, they don't want
24:14to take the animals away.
24:16So, their love for nature reflected in their lifestyle and, and also their difficulty of
24:23within…
24:24Getting a permit.
24:25Permit, now, like, you know, what they have lived for generations, suddenly they have
24:30to seek permit, and they're not being given permits, so they are like homeless within
24:35their home, you know.
24:37So…
24:38So, see, it's political in a way that it at least shows it.
24:42The truth cannot be hidden.
24:44Completely.
24:45That's, that much, that far we will go.
24:46For example, you take, there is a film called Manu Master, okay.
24:51Now, when I saw Manu Master, he was a phenomenal, what do you say, body structure, an elderly
24:59man and photographically was beautiful, and his postures, he's a Bharatanatyam guru,
25:06his postures were very unique.
25:09We went to film him, but we didn't know in detail that Manu Master is Mohammed Munaf.
25:16So, he comes again, but that's not something we keep highlighting.
25:21No, no.
25:22So…
25:23But that is the truth.
25:24We presented it.
25:25Yeah.
25:26And, you know, so, I think we'll not hide away from it, but what did we go for the story?
25:32It's the art of Manu Master, and that we presented it very uniquely.
25:37It was great talking to you, and thank you for writing for us, and you wanted to show…
25:42No, I want to show you.
25:43So this is a…
25:44So, you want to know what an audio cassette is now, right?
25:48Of course, I mean, I know.
25:49No, no, not you.
25:50This generation will not know.
25:51So this is, say, now probably 30 years old.
25:54This was the first audio cassette.
25:57I remember, you rewind it, fast forward it, it used to get scratched, you know, you wanted
26:01to put it back.
26:02So…
26:03So…
26:04Nicely designed also.
26:05You have a recorder also to play?
26:09I'll have to find one recorder.
26:11But this is even more interesting.
26:12So, you must have seen the LP at home.
26:16So we made an LP of Vande Matram and Jana Gana Matram.
26:22This one?
26:23Yeah.
26:24Let me see this.
26:25Very nicely…
26:28But this is like, you know…
26:29When was this shot?
26:31This is in Chennai.
26:32Yeah?
26:33Outside, near Mahabalipuram.
26:34Nice.
26:35When was this?
26:3697.
26:37Oh.
26:38And that's Rehman.
26:39Rehman?
26:40Yeah.
26:41So, for me, these are all exciting things, you know, when…
26:52What is important, I would say, is like, like art, artists, creations, right?
27:00This is now 28 years old, Vande Matram, or 29 years old, right?
27:06It still resonates with today's audience.
27:09So, for me, art, creativity is something has to be timeless.
27:14Any piece of work I do.
27:15Yeah, that is true.
27:16So, that is…
27:17It has to thrive.
27:18Yeah.
27:19And this is the…
27:20And this…
27:21We did Jana Gana Mana.
27:22We got 50 renditions of the National Anthem.
27:26Oh.
27:27Like, see, there's a solo version of Bhupen Hazarika.
27:29Hmm.
27:30Beemsen Joshi.
27:31Yeah, oh my God, Beemsen Joshi.
27:34And Pandit Shukmar Sharma, Pandit Jaiswal, everybody.
27:38And even Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore's voice, our rendition, we got it from the National
27:44Archives.
27:45Now, ismi, you want some gossip, right?
27:48Politics.
27:49No, not at all.
27:50I'll tell you.
27:51I would say, no.
27:52No, but we made this with our heart, okay?
27:56Humko nahi pata tha ki National Anthem has to be sung in 52 seconds.
28:01Oh.
28:02Yeah, that is the rule book, according to the Home Ministry.
28:07But we went and said, hey, let's create a musical rendition.
28:11India is rich with both classical music and folk.
28:16And so, we said, let's document and preserve it for posterity, right?
28:19Yeah.
28:20So, when I go and film with Beemsen Joshi, and he sings the National Anthem, hum nahi
28:26unko kaisakte, sing in 52 seconds.
28:29Yeah, obviously.
28:30Wo film ek gaana gaya.
28:31Toh kaise ruke gaana?
28:32Kaise ruke gaya?
28:33Pandit Jasraj Ho, Bala Murali Krishna, ISP Bala Subramaniam, Hari Haran, jo bhi hai,
28:39they all like Hari Prasad Chaurasarji, everybody, Pandit Shukmar Sharma, Jagjit Singh, you name
28:44it.
28:45Yeah.
28:46Or Shobha Gurtuji.
28:47It was a, what do you say, a very precious collection, including Lataji, Ashaji, everybody.
28:58So somebody piled a case against us, some couple of them in the court to say, but anyway,
29:06the government of the day respected what we did.
29:09And this album was released to the Central Hall of Parliament.
29:13And I took all these singers to the Parliament and made them sing the National Anthem to
29:19celebrate the 50th year of India's Republic.
29:21And did they sing in 52 seconds or more?
29:24No.
29:25Apna?
29:26Free, everybody.
29:27And they have recognized this as an official anthem.
29:31And lastly, Dr. Kalam, when he was president, every time, it's a protocol that wherever
29:38he goes, they have to play the National Anthem.
29:41He will only keep, he has loaded in his computer, all these renditions, and he will play one
29:47of this.
29:48Oh.
29:49Every time.
29:50How nice.
29:51Fabulous.
29:52Yeah.
29:53You know, you didn't think this will all happen.
29:55But that's the, that makes you feel, you know, that you did something interesting.
30:00That's it.
30:01Are you still going to make feature film?
30:02Yes, I am.
30:05And again, feature film, which has some unique story, obviously, but for me, my human angle
30:13is very critical.
30:15And if it can be based on something like a true story, and then present it and, you know,
30:21with great actors and characters.
30:24Are you working on one now?
30:26Yes.
30:27It may be next year.
30:28Yeah.
30:29Yeah.
30:30I'm still working on the other stuff.
30:31How many of the thousand you've completed now?
30:34Till now, we have filmed 110.
30:38And we have published about 32 or something.
30:42And more so will come, you know.
30:44Okay.
30:45And you're still in the process of finding more stories.
30:46Oh my God.
30:47Do you ask people to send stories?
30:49Today people are sending stories to us.
30:51And then you get letters, and you read newspapers in the morning looking for stories.
30:55You know what?
30:56I just, I just, every day, whenever I look around, I walk, I read, I see.
31:04And my mind is tuned to only find stories.
31:06You get tired, no?
31:07No.
31:08For me, I'm like a kid.
31:09I'm like a kid.
31:10I just get excited when I find a story.
31:11Yeah, yeah, yeah.
31:12Have you been to this Sonpur Mela ever?
31:13We're going.
31:14Yeah, November.
31:15Because that's the biggest Hathi Mela.
31:16It's the biggest cattle fair.
31:17Yeah.
31:18So I want to take it from the Hathi point of view, because that's amazing.
31:19Yeah?
31:20Yeah.
31:21Yeah, let's go, let's go.
31:22So instead of buying a new Range Rover, I'll get a Hathi Mela.
31:23Yeah.
31:24So instead of buying a new Range Rover, I'll get a Hathi Mela.
31:25Yeah.
31:26So instead of buying a new Range Rover, I'll get a Hathi Mela.
31:35You could actually do that.
31:36There was a guy who...
31:37But imagine, you know, you're going on top of a Hathi instead of some Range Rover, you'll
31:43be most attracted.
31:44Yeah, but then how in Bombay, how?
31:45Anyway, you're going that speed only.
31:46Thank you so much, Paramahanshi, for talking to us.