Stories of the unseen
Samarth Mahajan talks about bringing stories of people aboard the general compartment to the fore, and more
Last year in March, Samarth Mahajan set out on a 17-day long train journey across India to document a small part of the lives of people travelling in the third class compartment of the Indian railways. Produced by Camera and Shorts, the one-hour long documentary titled The Unreserved is an inquiry into the lives of passengers who take the general compartment to travel long distances across the country.
At that time, Samarth was bouncing off several ideas to document the life around train travelling, ultimately finalising this as the subject of his project. “We have done several projects surrounding travelling and alternate lifestyle. When looking for something to do around trains, I realised there was almost no content around the third class compartment. And soon afterwards I stumbled upon Mahatma Gandhi’s piece on travelling in the unreserved compartment, Third Class in Indian Railways, and figured I found my new project,” he tells us over a phone call. Written way back in 1917, Samarth says, the article paints the exact same picture as today, which means that even after hundred years, the condition of these compartments is exactly the same. “And so, we set out to document the compromises, hopes and dreams of these people.”
The 26-year-old director, accompanied by just his assistant and director of photography, started from Mumbai, moving to Okha in Gujarat, then to Delhi, finally getting on a train to Vaishno Devi. While documenting these destinations stake since the state railway isn’t connected to the Indian Railways. “The fact that Kashmir isn’t directly connected to the tracks that run through the rest of the country is what prompted us to really want to document the Kashmiris in the third class compartment. Interestingly, the trains that run through the state actually have only unreserved compartments,” he explains. With an optimised route in mind, the team first travelled to Baramulla and then to Banihal before moving to south India. When asked how the team managed to film in a moving train with the chaos of sound, incessant movement and light issues, Samarth explains that none of these issues were really issues. “We thought these were all fascinating characteristics of the train that need to be captured on camera. Hence, apart from attempting to improve the sound quality, we didn’t interfere in the natural mise en scene of the compartment,” he says. Adding that documentaries don’t necessarily require artificial light — that the natural light not only sets the tone of the film but also puts an interesting light on the characters.
Steering away from politically charged conversations, the film also portrays issues of belonging to a patriarchal society — all in the form of conversations, of course.
Filmmaking process apart, Samarth recalls the experiences he took home. From talking to a Kashmiri youth to chatting up with an 82-yearold ex-serviceman, the crowd in the general compartment managed to change his perspective on several issues. “We were talking to a Kashmiri youth, who very openly supported Pakistan, and wasn’t worried of what the other passengers might think — and this got us really scared, to the extent that I began whispering!” he laughs nervously. The youth also explained the cause of his opinion. “His village had no electricity and he was unemployed. He had applied to the army only to wait a long time for an approval. He told us, ‘If I get into the army, I will have a job. And maybe then I will support India.’ That got to me. If a nation can’t provide for you, what use really is nationalism?”
When looking for something to do around trains, I realised there was almost no content around the third class compartment.