The Hindu Business Line : `Terrorist' at the Oscars

Standing on a platform in Juan Les Pins at the Cannes film Festival, Ashvin Kumar dreamt of making a film. In fact, at that instant an idea was born in his mind.

Five months later, the movie, Road to Ladakh was ready for screening. Written and directed by Kumar, it was a wacky rites-of-passage encounter between a dysfunctional, coke-snorting fashion model and an ultra-focused stranger thrown together by chance in the wilderness of Ladakh.

Though the 48-minute Irfan Khan-Koel Puri starrer was screened at festivals in Cannes, Vancouver, Paris and Los Angeles and even managed to pick up a few awards, the film and its maker went largely unnoticed.

Two years on, Kumar is back. And how! His 15-minute documentary, Little Terrorist has been nominated for the Oscar for best Live Action Short Film, a first for the country. Little Terrorist revolves around a 10-year-old Pakistani boy who crosses the minefield strewn Indo-Pak border and strays into an Indian village in search of his lost cricket ball. He is given shelter by a Hindu schoolteacher, who must find a way of hiding him from Indian soldiers who are already looking for the Pakistani "terrorist" who crossed over.

The film is based on a true story: In early 2003, a 12-year-old Pakistani boy crossed the Indo-Pak border and the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee restored the boy to his family, sparking off the thaw in tensions between the two nuclear nations.

Little Terrorist had its world premiere in Montreal in September 2004 and has since been accepted in 20 film festivals, winning first prizes in three, including a nomination to the European Academy Awards.

This automatically made it eligible for a nomination to the Best Short Film Oscar... but it was still a distant dream.

"When I heard about the nomination I jumped with joy and hurt myself. You can never be prepared for a surprise like that."

Avant garde filmmaker

"I always wanted to make a film on the political conflict between India and Pakistan but couldn't find an exciting subject. So, when I read that Vajpayee had helped send a Pakistani boy back home, I knew this would be the subject for my new film," he says. Kumar studied Media and Communications at Goldsmith's College, University of London, and also briefly attended the London Film School. Some years ago, at the Cannes Film Festival he saw filmmakers distributing pamphlets urging people to see their short films. "So I thought if I have to hit the international market then I must be here next year, distributing pamphlets of my film. That set me thinking about a possible storyline. Soon enough I came up with the concept for Road To Ladakh."

For Little Terrorist, his crew was drawn from the UK, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. Interestingly, all of them travelled to India at their own cost to be part of the project.

Working on a shoestring budget, the international crewmembers welcomed the New Year 2004 in a tented camp in the middle of the Rajasthan desert. They had to contend with freezing mornings and nights, a remote location and other logistical nightmares.

In the remote desert location, word spread quickly that a film was being shot and, soon enough, tractor loads of men from far-flung villages poured onto the set with wives and children, dressed in their best. But the shooting disappointed the eager audience, which waited in vain for a pretty damsel to break into a traditional Bollywood dance sequence.

Due to the limited budget, a group of Rajasthani musicians were recruited for the music. What started as an experimental, cost-saving impulse eventually resulted in a lyrical and unique fusion of Indian folk and traditional western film score.

A multi-dialect production team, remote location, a very stretched budget, illness and crowds were just a few of the unusual and challenging elements that the crew faced. But it also proved to be an unforgettable experience.

"In the end, it was all worth it," says Kumar and explains, "The film is extremely relevant because of 9/11, which has made terrorism a global issue. But I am not sure if that helped to get an Oscar nomination."

According to Kumar, ever since filmmakers like Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham and Bride & Prejudice), Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) and Ashutosh Gowarikar (Lagaan) made their appearance on the global stage there's been a heightened interest in Indian cinema. "These new-age filmmakers are changing the entire approach to Indian cinema. They are addressing diverse issues and voicing modern-day concerns."

His team worked meticulously on the storyline, he says. There's a definite beginning, middle and a very appropriate end. "My idea of filmmaking is not to churn out tired old stereotypes but portray contemporary people in current settings," says this filmmaker who till the other day was known only as the son of fashion designer Ritu Kumar.

"Don't ask me the obvious question why I didn't become a designer like my mom," warns Kumar. "Just because my mother is a designer doesn't mean I too must become one. I know my mom is the best in her field but I was always interested in filmmaking."

Now, if he does win the coveted award, then the renowned designer could soon be known as the mother of an Oscar winner!

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