A young film director from Bihar, Nitin Chandra, a sensitive soul, was greatly affected by the recent violence in Maharashtra against Biharis. He has made a movie called “Bring Back Bihar” to highlight the migration and economic woes of Bihar. The film is in documentary format and the language of commentary is Hindi.
Interestingly, this film has been made with small contribution and loans from different people, all middle class ordinary guys.
A former student of Don Bosco, Patna, with a Bachelor in Information Technology from Delhi and Masters in Communication Studies from University of Pune with specialization in film-making, Chandra has made a handful of short films, including one on Bihar-Maharashtra issue that was adjudged the best in the University. He currently is working on a script on Bihar, that, as he characterizes it, would be cult film.
In his documentary ‘Bring Back Bihar – Moment of Awakening’, Chandra attempts to find the reasons for migration of millions of Biharis, its historical perspective and economic and social implications on Bihar. It delves into the golden past of Bihar and encompasses the journey of the state from its glorious past till the present day when it faces economic strangulation. The film intends to portray the skewed policies of powerful people, who could have shaped the golden destiny of this state but instead scripted its downfall with corrupt and impotent political leadership over the years.
The film features interviews of economists, journalists, students, professionals, activists, victims of floods and riots in Maharashtra, businessmen, villagers, migrant labor and others. The film has been extensively shot in some of the most troubled, flood-stricken areas that will bring forth the inhuman conditions under which lakhs of people from Bihar have been struggling for several years.
Chandra, who also writes his own script, and his crew traveled to different cities like Bangalore, Nasik, Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Patna and the remote parts of Bihar villages for this film. It is an inspiring film highlighting the present situation of Bihar and how it is recuperating under the current leadership, with the hope that the lost glory can be regained once again.
The young director has worked with various advertisement film directors for national brands like Horlicks, Outlook, Eno, Elder Pharmaceuticals, among others, besides working as the Assistant Director with Dibakar Banerjee, the maker of critically-acclaimed film Khosla ka Ghosla, and in another project with noted film-maker Tanuja Chandra.
Chandra’s short films include:
1. The Outsider – The story of Shankar Kumar of Bhojpur who goes to Maharashtra for Railway Entrance in 2003 and the violence and discrimination faced by him makes him re-think his priorities ultimately realizing he did not belong in Maharashtra. The story, however, takes a sharp turn when he meets an equally ill-fated Maharashtrian fellow looking for the same railway job.
2. Meera – It’s a story of an upper-middle class working widow who is fighting for her husband’s money which lays dormant in a bank account. Her son suspects her of having an affair with the lawyer. In the end, however, he realizes he was wrong all along.