On a Long March
ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846 On a Long March BERNARD D’MELLO Vol. 48, Issue No. 19, 11 May, 2013 Here is a review of Sanjay Kak’s new film, Red Ant Dream, which is about “those who live the revolutionary ideal in India”. In a sense, it covers a long march, from the times of Bhagat Singh to those of the Maoist revolutionary, Azad. The film, when the camera is in Bastar and in the Niyamgiri Hills, brings to us the culture of vitality over there, a way of life that is rooted in nature and in the struggles of the adivasis who are closest to nature, this culture blending with that of the Maoists who have brought to the adivasis memory and dreams of “far away insurrections and revolutions – Naxalbari, China, Russia, even the Paris Commune of 1871”. Red Ant Dream / Maati Ke Laal (2013) 120 minutes; English version, with subtitles Direction: Sanjay Kak Photography: Ranjan Palit, Sanjay Kak and Setu Sound Design: Madhu Apsara Writers: Sanjay Kak and Tarun Bharatiya Editing: Tarun Bharatiya You are far away from the sterile atmosphere of much of academia with its politically correct but spineless professors. You are miles away from intellectuals who detest both the Indian state and those who live by the revolutionary ideal. Just as well to be nowhere near those who run with the hare and hunt with the hounds – say they abhor the status quo but despise those who have embraced the political means necessary to get rid of the existing state of affairs. You are also insulated from propaganda of the kind that is around every day on the TV news channels.
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