DU STUDENT’S HARDHITTING SHORT ON ROHINGYA CRISIS

A St. Stephen’s student uses ants as an allegory to depict the wrongs meted out to Rohingya refugees

The Rohingya crisis is unknown to none. Widely televised, and talked about at length, it is, nevertheless, slowly fading away from our memory. And that’s exactly what a short film by Anson A Athikalam, a thirdyear Economics (Hons) student from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, seeks to change. Called Upavahana, the film uses the struggle between two ant species as a metaphor to show how the Rohingyas have been forced to flee Myanmar and seek shelter in India and Bangladesh, and the insensitive treatment being meted out to them.

Student-filmmaker Anson A Athikalam, who hails from Alappuzha in Kerala, says he wants to go beyond keyboard activism. “Keyboard activism doesn’t help any situation. My movie is an effort to bring these people out of the shadows and explain the plight of Rohingyas in India. It highlights the detachment between the two warring beliefs of Rohingya and Pali,” he explains, adding that Upavahana, which means ‘washed away’ in Pali, was apt as the title as it summed up the Rohingyas’ situation well.

However, the project, shot in Delhi and Kerala, wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.

Anson reveals, “The film was made without any backing. It was difficult to get the ant shots right, but if you have an idea, you find a way around it.”

Further, language barriers, difficulty in pursuing people, scouting for locations, and lack of funds were to make it even more complicated, but not enough to deter Anson from finishing the project.

“A few of my contacts pitched in for equipment, and the movie, unbelievable as it may sound, was completed in a budget of under ₹10,000,” he says. Anson, who has earlier made socially-relevant films about environmental issues and politics, was never bothered about irking anyone, who might be opposed to the message of the film. “I always choose topics which need the masses’ attention. Upavahana is a way of building hope for a threatened community that is made to feel like secondary citizens, and to live a life of fear and deprivation. We want change and justice for them. We will keep visiting them in the camp, and show our support and solidarity,” Anson says.

It highlights the detachment between the two warring beliefs of Rohingya and Pali... It is a way of building hope for a threatened community that is made to feel like secondary citizens ANSON ATHIKALAM, STUDENTFILMMAKER

A still from the 11minute film, which was shot in Delhi and Kerala