How teacher helped to create inspirational film about Sikh trailblazer
VITAL ROLE IN
BHAGWANT HAD
A PRIMARY school teacher from Leicester has told how she played a central role in the creation of a 3D animated film about historical pioneer Mata Sahib Kaur, the wife of Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
Bhagwant Kaur, pictured, originally signed on to Supreme Motherhood: The journey of Mata Sahib Kaur as a screenplay writer, but later worked as assistant director.
The film tells the story of Mata Sahib Kaur, a leader in 17th and 18th century India.
She ruled in Delhi for 40 years and spearheaded the fight against the tyranny, injustice and inequality of the time.
Conceived and created by volunteers and amateurs, the film has already received widespread acclaim.
It was officially released last month and, in just over a month, the trailer has racked up over 2 million views on YouTube, with people describing it as “tearjerking” and “inspiring”.
Bhagwant, 32, who was a Master’s degree in creative writing from De Montfort University, said: “Writing is something I love doing, I always wanted to be a writer, and it was my singleminded vision in life.
“So I told myself that I’d take on projects that enabled me to do that.
“The Punjabi and Sikh community decided to start the project for this film.
“It was started by Dr Baba Karandeep Singh and I heard through the grapevine they needed some help with the script.
“Because I became very close to the story and knew a lot about it, I naturally progressed into the assistant director role.
“After that I worked on every single stage of the movie. I had to travel to India because that’s where the production was.
“I spent endless days and nights in
Mumbai, working on the film – from storyboards, the music, the animation and the dubbing.”
Supreme Motherhood is a film that celebrates female empowerment.
Bhagwant added: “In the IndianPunjabi community, there is a lot of traditionalist thought that favours boys.
“So we think it is really important to show a female in a position of leadership and to help girls become more confident.
“The film also has a lot of spiritual themes about devotion and having faith, and believing in the greater good. It explores having courage and standing up for what is right.
“The film also shows that it is okay to stand out from the crowd. As you can see, Sikhs have quite a distinctive appearance.”
Mata Sahib Kaur is described as the mother of the Khalsa (collective body of initiated Sikhs) and is seen as the spiritual mother to Sikhs.
Bhagwant said: “We are lucky because we have our worldly mother – who gave birth to us – and we also have a spiritual mum.
“The film touches on themes of motherhood – the all encompassing, unconditional love that children need, and the divine femininity within women.”
As someone born and raised in Leicester, the assistant director wants the Sikh community in the city to feel proud of the project.
She said: “A lot of the Sikh community in Leicester knew about the film and even donated money towards it.
“The film was made for the community – by the community. It’s a really big testimony of what the community can do when we all come together and have a single-minded vision, and work as a family.
“The movie has done really well, it’s been internationally released, and it’s done really well, we’ve had so many amazing reviews and fantastic feedback. I want the community to remember that this is what we can achieve when we put our minds to it.”
ACCLAIMED ANIMATION