‘My focus is on social issues, says Kamakhya Narayan Singh, director of critically-acclaimed film Bhor
Gurnaaz Kaur
After receiving critical acclaim at more than 30 film festivals, including Cairo International Film Festival, International Film Festival of India (Goa), Indo-Berlin Film Week (Berlin) and Melbourne India Film Festival, Bhor is now trending on social media since its release on MX player. With women empowerment and sanitation issues of rural India at the heart of its story, it also offers an interesting take on the caste system.
Its director Kamakhya Narayan Singh, who debuts in the realm of feature films with Bhor, says, “The film is about the Musahar community in Bihar. Even among SCs, they fall in the lowest strata; so when education, sanitation and political power reaches them, how they react to such modern campaigns makes the story. Bhor for me is a fresh morning for people who have been into darkness for ages.”
The film revolves around Budhni, a girl from the Musahar community who dreams to pursue her education despite her marriage below the legal age and how she fights all odds to build a toilet for sanitation.
Born and brought up in Assam, Kamakhya’s roots lie in Bihar where he spent his summer vacations every year and interacted with the community regularly. After studying social work, he delved deeper into their issues. “They are very poor but very happy people. They aren’t bothered about anything. There is conflict but they are not complicated.”
Bhor has not only travelled to various film festivals but has also won the best director award at Ottawa Indian Film Festival and two awards at Caleidoscope Indian Film festival of Boston. Appreciated for its realistic portrayal, it stars Nalneesh Neel, Devesh Rajan, Saveri Sree Gaur and Punya Prasun Bajpai.
“Being a first-time filmmaker, it was difficult for me to release the film, so I chose to go to film festivals to get Bhor tested by critics. Having said that, I think every film is a commercial film because money goes into making it. Mine has lesser-known stars but they are passionate actors.” Already working on his next film, Kamakhya says it’s a geo-political film on Kashmir. “I will always make films that are content-driven and focus on social issues.”
So, whether it is a theatrical or OTT release, he leaves his consumers to call the shots. “Content has now been democratised with OTT. Now, you can make content and put it on the OTT platform and other platforms where people can watch it. People can choose what they want.”
