Film Screening: The Unreserved (HRW Day 5)

Film Screening
The Unreserved



Time: 4:00 to 5:30 pm 

Date: 14th December 2021 

The Unreserved: People's lives and their Conversation.

    The documentary, which is directed by Samarth Mahajan, has won the National Award for Best Audiography in the year 2018, and also premiered at the Film South Asia.

    'Unreserved', is the first feature-length documentary of Samarth Mahajan, which includes the lives and stories of working-class travelling passengers in the Unreserved Indian Railway Compartments. It was a journey of 17 days across India in 10 different departments.

    The movie started with an 81-year-old man performing various Yogas, beyond our scope of imagery. He was also mimicking the sounds of various domestic animals and female crying voices. The participants who joined the meeting were enjoying and passed a lot of comments, like Yogic Dadaji, Legend old man, etc. Then the camera started rolling the stories of passengers, and a conversation started between them both. They had a Frank communication with the Filmmaker, that they shared their concerns, efforts opinions and personal stories. We also remember the Rajnikanth Fans, who made us laugh. The unforgettable moment was when the father had tears in his eyes and fear of losing his daughter, because of brain cancer. At that moment we all were overwhelmed with tears. Some people discussed the dowry system still being practised in the rural areas. It also had an example of a woman of upper caste wanting to marry a man who belongs, but the caste system matters to the women's family. 

    The Film depicted different things to different individuals, based on their caste, where they locate themselves in the social hierarchies, dowry, domestic violence, poverty, lack of employment, inter-caste marriage, etc. The participants gave various opinions related to the concerns of people and their dwelling within a society full of social norms. Human rights, such as freedom of speech and expression, right to live, right to equality are still being violated. Even after India is independent people are not liberated from their own thoughts. Samarth Mahajan said, 'Engaging with this India, which we have become used to not listening and hearing, but hearing and listening to each other can teach us a lot about ourselves and our privilege. Honest conversations can be cathartic. So go out and talk'.

Report drafted by Vedanti Patil (SYBA).


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