ACEE - The
Annual Report Third Eye
December 2013
1 INDEX
Introduction 3
Organization Chart of The Third Eye 5
The Team 6
Launch of The Third Eye 8
Programs – Elevate 9
Story Bus Tours 12
Inquiries 13
Screenings 14
Feature Film – Safed Doli 16
TV Series – Sapna 19
TV Talk Show - Madat 21
Star Trek 23
Website 24
The Third Eye Radio 25
The Third Eye TV 26
Social Media 27
Newsletter – The Eye of The Storm 28
Website Statistics 29
Other Significant Projects – Design of a customized measurement impact 30 tool
Design of Audience Engagement Strategy for 30 MTV Exit Program
Flashpoint – Human Rights Film Festival 31
Writer’s Workshop with Gary Lyons 32
Annexure Index 33
2 INTRODUCTION
THE THIRD EYE is one of the Global Centres launched by HH&S to support two of the largest Industries of Media and Entertainment in the world, Nigeria and India.
In India the Global Centre primarily addresses creative communities across all performing and non performing arts, with expert advice on key health, sustainable development and climate change issues so that the portrayal of information about critical realities carried across to the massive numbers of viewers and readers, is accurate and factual and so that the entertainment as well as media consumed by millions of devoted followers translates to best practices across all social, economic and policy parameters which then, eventually should reflect across all indicators.
The program is funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
THE THIRD EYE builds bridges between the creative communities at large and industries of media and entertainment in India, in general, and the PRIORITIES OF OUR TIMES.
India is a complex geography, and the viewership across all media and entertainment platforms is a complicated demographic because of the myriad of languages and cultures that cohabit the space.
Realizing the common thread to be the universality of issues of development to be addressed, the approach at THE THIRD EYE became simpler therefore the roadmap could be comprehensively defined.
When counting numbers and outreach, there is no parallel to India in the rest of the world and the consumption of its entertainment is far beyond the comparable.
3 ACEE and HH&S through THE THIRD EYE ventured out earlier this year to set up systems to engage with the spectrum through traditional as well as direct methods of communication, with practitioners of public health, unrelenting frontline workers of the development sectors, social activists, the Government of India and film studios, television networks, associations that govern the film and television industries of India, print and new media, to make them aware of the FREE- ON-DEMAND service and resource we offer to creative communities, for them to have access to important information they require from time to time.
As the project surged forward with the intention, what fuelled the process was the absolute support of filmmaker and activist Mahesh Bhatt, who has pledged his sustained partnership with the process, and who aptly puts it this way, “At ACEE, we believe that stories backed with solid research can create content which will enter popular culture and have a profound social impact.”
4 Organization Chart for The Third Eye Project
Asian Center for Entertainment Education
Managing Director Acting CFO Director
Deepak Bhalla Vinta Nanda Augustine Veliath
Legal Advisor The Third Eye Project Simran Puri
Auditor
Sanjay Vadodaria Content Strategy Business Program Creative Development/ Outreach Director Strategy Manager Pratik Punjabi Hans Kapadia Deepa Bhalerao Shiv Bhalla
Manager Operations Website Development & Maintenance Bhisham Makhija
Admin Outreach Co- ordinator Mangesh Mohite Delegation Hierarchy Anand Tiwari
Website work
Queries and Research
ACEE Projects 5 The Team
Vinta Nanda: As Managing Director Vinta Nanda oversees each vertical of the Third Eye Project and sees to the smooth functioning of the organization. She exercises executive power on all aspects.
Augustine Veliath: He serves as a Director of the parent company Asian Center for Entertainment Education and assists Vinta Nanda on company matters.
Acting CFO, Deepak Bhalla: He serves as the Acting CFO of The Third Eye Project and will oversee aspects of financial nature which would include budgeting, account management and forecasting. He works with the Third Eye once a week as a consultant.
Auditor, Sanjay Vadodaria: He maintains balance sheets and audits accounts of The Third Eye Project and keeps the project compliant across all parameters. He visits The Third Eye office once a week.
Legal Advisor, Simran Puri: Gives legal advice across all matters to The Third Eye and also gives all the creative content of the project a legal perspective. She visits The Third Eye fortnightly.
Program Outreach Manager, Deepa Bhalerao: Deepa connects Bollywood writers, directors, producers and researchers to medical experts via phone, email or in-person meetings. She forges relationships with local and international medical experts and co-ordinates in-country health topic activities. She plans events, manages staff on day-to-day outreach activities and co-ordinates and executes events. She maintains and updates contact/outreach databases, prepares tip sheets on health topics and oversees staff and volunteers.
Business Development/Strategy, Hans Kapadia: Hans strategizes on aspects such as research and queries with the Program Manager, Creative Director and Content Strategist and oversees the work done on the website by the website design team along with the Creative Team at ACEE. He also oversees the commercial and executive end of business with networks and studios.
Creative Director, Shiv Bhalla: Shiv conceptualizes, creates and produces content for the project website, as well as for TV, Film and other platforms. He is co-writing the film Safed Doli with Kalpana Lajmi. The creative team works closely with Vinta Nanda to develop content.
Content Strategy, Pratik Punjabi: Pratik incorporates Gates priority topics in the current and developing projects. He liaisons with content programmers, commissioning teams and creative heads of networks and studios. He ensures all projects are running on schedule. He is co-writing Sapna with Vinta Nanda.
Manager Operations Bhisham Makhija: Bhisham manages of day to day tasks to ensure smooth functioning of the work environment. He handles daily book keeping, manages office inventory and supplies, and co-ordinates with members of the administrative department for execution of tasks.
Outreach Co-ordinator, Anand Tiwari: Administrative Assistant to Program Outreach Manager and Operations Manager.
6 Administrative Assistant, Mangesh Mohite: The role of this job is to assist the Manager Operations.
7 Launch of THE THIRD EYE-
THE THIRD EYE was launched in March 2013 under the auspices of FICCI Frames, the annual three day conference for the business of media and entertainment, which is organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries. A panel discussion on the contemporary topic of Socially Provocative Media and Entertainment served to lead the project to its next stage.
The panel comprised of filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Gautam Ghosh, Producer-Actor Kiran Juneja, Sandra de Castro Buffington, then the Director, HH&S, Jonathan Taplin, Director, Annenberg Centre for Innovation and University of South California, School of Communication & Journalism, and Colin Macay, MD, Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, Harvard University.
Leena Jaisani, Director, Media & Entertainment, FICCI, Kulmeet Makker, CEO, Producers Guild of India and Mukesh Bhatt, President, Producers Guild of India lent their valuable support for the launch.
8 PROGRAMS- 2013
ELEVATE-
In July 2013 was launched the annual conclave ELEVATE, which was attended by over 200 writers and journalists from the media and the entertainment industries of India who participated in various panels comprising of thought leaders, public health practitioners, social activists and frontline workers.
The panel discussion was moderated by Sandra de Castro Buffington who, in conversation with Karen Tenkhoff and Carol Barbee spoke on how to integrate social issues in film and television. Karen Tenkhoff is a film writer and Carol Barbee is a TV writer.
This was followed by a workshop for scriptwriters that showcased methods of integrating key health, sustainable development and climate change issues with entertainment, which was led by writers and producers from both Hollywood and the Indian Film & Television Industries.
Specialist doctors, Dr. Jayanti Singh and Dr. Kirti Rayamane, gave their inputs on family planning and immunization.
9 The writer’s workshop in the second half of the day was conducted by dividing participants into groups led by Carol Barbee, Karen Tenkhoff, and Vinta Nanda. 250 writers attended the workshop and each group came up with stories on Health and Sanitation in rural India. The Times of India, the largest English Daily in the country featured a full page write-up on this event.
(Link: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-19/news- interviews/40678079_1_the-third-eye-taare-zameen-par-entertainment- industry
Issues of social relevance were raised in the course of the workshops and intense discussions were held among the participants. The queries raised were debated and opinions shared among the other participants
Stalwarts like Mahesh Bhatt, Kamlesh Pandey, Anjum Rajabali, Karen Tenkhoff, Carol Barbee, Sandra de Castro Buffington, Chris Dzialo, Augustine Veliath, Kalpana Lajmi, Soni Razdan, writers Rohan Joshi, Pubali Chaudhuri, Shagufta Rafique, television industry leaders Shashi Ranjan, Anu Ranjan (Indian
10 Television Academy) and Mukesh Bhatt, Producer as well as President of Producers Guild of India were our Resource Persons for the event.
THE THIRD EYE owes its gratitude to Mukesh Bhatt, Kulmeet Makker, Leena Jaisani and Kamlesh Pandey (Film Writers Association) who made it a thumping success.
For more information see annexure 1
11 THE STORY BUS TOUR- July 20th - 23rd, 2013.
THE STORY BUS TOUR is a retreat for writers. Taking a leaf from the pages of HH&S, it is an endeavour to take writers to vibrant and inspiring places in the country where they can experience the ambience and interact directly with the persons in the field. The venue for the retreat is chosen keeping in mind the maximization of experience for the writers and the possibility of showcasing the inspiring yet sometimes invisible world of diverse social realities.
In 2013 the StoryBus took creators from Hollywood Karen Tenkhoff (Co- producer Motorcycle Diaries) and Carol Barbee (Touch) and creators from The Indian Film & Television Industries, Kalpana Lajmi, Soni Razdan, Nirav Vaidya (commissioning editor of Star Network), Murzban Shroff (Author: Breathless in Bombay), writers Shiv Bhalla and Pratik Panjabi to Bodhgaya, Bihar, where they interacted with frontline workers of Mahila Samakhya, in their field areas.
Mahila Samakhya is a program that was launched in 1988 in pursuance of the goals of the New Education Policy, 1986, and the Program of Action for the education and empowerment of women in rural areas, particularly of women from socially and economically marginalised groups. The founder of Mahila Samakhya Bihar, Sister Sujitha and the extraordinary women who had faced challenges and brought reform in their societies over the last 25 years shared their experiences with the visitors.
12 For more information see annexure 2 INQUIRIES FROM WRITERS-
There have been three major inquiries from scriptwriters to date. The first one was on the topic of Yoga and Meditation, the second one was on echolocation and visual aids for the visually impaired. The third inquiry that has come in was on the legal aspects of acid attacks on women.
Query number 1 didn’t fall into our mandate since it is beyond the scope of our expertise, but we continue to follow it up with the writer with advice. The second inquiry was handled by Chris Dzialo along with the team at The Third Eye, who put the scriptwriter in touch with a medical professional Dr Sadun from the US, who gave him a PowerPoint presentation. The writer, (who is a part of the Executive Committee of the Film Writers’ Association) communicated thereafter that with these inputs he had enough material to move forward with his script. He added that he would be starting work soon on a story on organ transplant for which he would be connecting with The Third Eye very soon.
The third query came from another participant from the ELEVATE conference. Tripti Sharma is working on a script in which the protagonist is a victim of an acid attack that disfigures her face. (This is common in India as many women are such victims to men who are unable to deal with rejection. There is no official data on the number of such assaults in India because they were not registered as a separate crime until recently but activists say that there are about 2 or 3 cases reported in the increasingly attentive media every week). The writer after a couple of interactions with the team at The Third Eye was connected with a renowned expert on Criminal Law, Ms Simran Puri, who is an advocate at the Mumbai High Court and interacted in a meeting arranged by the team at The Third Eye office led by Hans Kapadia. They have had one round of meetings where questions were responded to by Ms Puri. The second round of meetings, are scheduled with the Public Prosecutor for such cases in the next week.
For more information see annexure 3
13 SCREENINGS - MANGO GIRLS- 4th OCTOBER 2013
With the screening of MANGO GIRLS (Produced by Robert Carr and Directed by Kunal Sharma) in September, 2013, THE THIRD EYE started to engage with creative communities and media through discussions post the screening of compelling media and films. Filmmaker and Activist Mahesh Bhatt spoke to a mix of filmmakers, writers and media about the need for films to explore solutions to the various problems that Indian Societies face, like the film Mango Girls does.
14 MANGO GIRLS is about an obscure village near Bhagalpur, Bihar where for over 200 years, the villagers have followed a tradition of planting 10 mango trees at the birth of every girl child. This practice enables the families in the village not to consider girls to be a burden, but to educate and empower them instead.
A marketing strategy is being developed for this film through The Third Eye Project which will ensure that government and non-government organizations working in the area of women’s health and teaching institutions will be able to procure a copy and use it in the field.
The distribution of the film is also planned for the international audience through universities and their related networks.
15 FEATURE FILM – (WIP)
SAFED DOLI
The creative team at THE THIRD EYE is developing Safed Doli, a full length Feature, to be directed by internationally acclaimed director Ms Kalpana Lajmi and to be co-produced by ACEE.
The story is about a young girl in rural India, who is faced with challenges for her survival from the moment that she is born in a very marginalized part of the world in rural India. Later on in life, after having faced abuse because she is widowed at a very young age, as well as having been trafficked, she takes on the system and creates an atmosphere of change through her grit and resolve.
Originally incepted by Vinta Nanda, Safed Doli began as a collaborative effort between Vinta Nanda and Kalpana Lajmi.
At the end of 2012, the first draft of the story was put up for discussion and Shiv Bhalla was brought into the process. After discussion and adding stylized elements to the film, and with minor changes to the narrative, Kalpana Lajmi and Shiv Bhalla collaboratively wrote the second draft of the story, which was complete by March/April 2013. 16 During the visit of the HH&S representatives and Hollywood writers to India in July, Safed Doli was put on the table for discussion after the Bihar StoryBus tour. Sandra DeCastro Buffington, Chris Dzialo, Karen Tenkhoff and Carol Barbee were present for the meeting and after constructive criticism, it was decided that the narrative would take a different approach and a few changes would be made stylistically as well. Notes made during the meeting are as follows:
“Both aspects of appreciation (which will be subject to emphasis) and of criticism (which will be subject to change or de-emphasis) were expressed in the meeting.
The mystical and ominous Macbeth-like style to the narrative of the story was appreciated and should be included in the story. Surrealism and metaphysics should be emphasized, and when contrasted with stark, grounding realities will create elements that could be used to create heightened suspense. The leaning in and out of both realms will also emphasize the convolution that people experience, which can be exploited by those in positions of authority as a form of control.
17 HH&S and Hollywood writers appreciated the use of sexual politics in the story. They felt however, that they were too over-the-top and maybe unrealistic. It was argued that it was due to an outsider’s perspective that they felt that way and that the incidents that were expressed in the script are commonplace in India.
The political ideologies expressed in the story were also discussed. It was expressed that the heroine’s subscription to a particular ideology (Naxalism in particular) would not be warranted. It was further discussed to allow Anamika, the protagonist, to weigh the positive and negative aspects as a non subscriber. This issue, in particular deals with the violence associated with insurgency that stems from various movements like Naxalism and Maoism that will be discussed next.
The heroine’s final decision to take up violence as a last resort was criticized. It was expressed that an alternate action must be developed as it would not inspire behavioural change within the audience. It was discussed further that a more peaceful, humanist action should be taken and portrayed to overcome the oppression of the antagonist.
Synonymous with the violence, the semi tragic nature of the end (and the inclusion of violence) would have to be changed to a more romantic ideal of overcoming evil through good rather than necessary evil. The heroine would have to be portrayed as someone who comes to the realization of her own benevolence through the maturity she gains as an individual.”
Since the meeting, Kalpana Lajmi and Shiv Bhalla have taken a focused and detailed approach to write the first draft of the screenplay. The process began in September 2013, and had been tedious and detailed from the beginning. It is currently still in development and completion is expected in December 2013.
For more information see annexure 4
18 TV SERIES – (AWAITING COMMISSIONING AT STAR NETWORK)
SAPNA
Sapna is a television series of 208 episodes, designed by Vinta Nanda to make compelling viewing for audiences from all walks of life in India, where gender equality is yet to be achieved especially among aspiring masses because it is misunderstood and misrepresented by the upper crust, which otherwise generally leads the way in other developed and developing nations. It is being developed in-house by writer Pratik Punjabi and the ACEE creative team.
In a country that cuts across various religions, languages and traditions, fiction has been and will remain a way to direct behaviours and attitudes which lead to better practices and a deeper understanding of values. India particularly has, due to its huge population belonging to many different cultures, battled for a long time with the necessity to weed out hypocrisy from its social embroideries so that it can find a way in which the concept of morality does not blur the idea of values.
Sapna traces the journey of a woman born in rural India who deals with various life events that challenge her to take proactive steps to deal with issues that define the social landscape in India today. Sapna is the showcasing of the protagonist’s many struggles that are synonymous with what a woman from
19 the underprivileged sections in India today faces and her consequent growth by surmounting them.
When narrated to Chris Dzialo, Carol Barbee, Karen Tenkhoff and Sandra de Castro Buffington in July, 2013 during their visit to Mumbai, there were various inputs provided by the visiting creative forces. The most compelling among them was inputs on the structure of the long running series. Observing that Sapna had survived to live two lives in the span of one, both Carol Barbee and Karen Tenkhoff felt that the narrative should unfold in two realms through each episode. One would be of Sapna’s childhood and past, which was endured by her bravely, and the other was of Sapna’s present, which is after she has become an achiever through her own hard work. A sensational style emerged through discussions where audiences would be captivated by the two stories running simultaneously until both would meet at one point somewhere in the middle of the serials run.
It was also discussed that since Sapna is a long running series, it could address a spectrum of issues that are priorities for the program.
20 For more information see annexure 5 TV TALK SHOW- (AWAITING COMMISSIONING AT STAR NETWORK)
MADAT-
Madat is planned to be a first-of-its-kind Talk Show in 13 parts for every season, which will provide a platform to address women in distress. It aims to offer support through counselling, guidance and rehabilitation. The unique features of this show include the assurance of anonymity to the help- seekers, in an atmosphere that is free of judgement and the provision and execution of workable solutions in a long term perspective.
The program involves the constitution of an expert panel consisting of a lawyer, a police officer and a psychologist who will provide their specialist knowledge and guidance. The studio audience will be participating in the discussion and a similar case study will be discussed during the program.
A Madat Help Desk will be set up to follow up after the program and provide support and further guidance to each woman featured on the show afterwards.
Other features involve a 24/7 Helpline and a website that provides access to the links of over 3000 NGOs and public health networks.
21 The compilation of an exhaustive list of Government and Non-Government organizations and individual experts is in progress. Experts have been long- listed for the panel and shall be briefed in special meetings held for the purpose of explaining to them the concept and the proposed format of the show.
Tie-ups with the shelters for women and children, Special Cell for Women in Distress, Police Control Rooms, Child Guidance Clinics, Juvenile Justice Courts, Civil and Criminal lawyers of various towns will be made.
For more information see annexure 6
22 STAR TREK – (COMMISSIONED FOR A PILOT PROJECT)
ACEE The Third Eye & Star Network propose to carry out the pilot exercise of the project StarTrek which will take content leaders and creators of the different channels of Star Network on a journey to discover the rural youth and gain insights to their aspirations, true potential and thus to identify and relate them to the future of India through stories of serials. While ACEE will contribute the creative and developmental expertise to this project, Star Network will provide access to its huge footprint among the diverse audiences of India which it captivates through its various programs. Star Network will also enable messaging or be the carrier for information about the priorities of our times, by the seeding of storylines that inspire the creative leaderships on this journey into their present and emerging works.
As a pilot project, ACEE-The Third Eye will take the creative leadership of Star Network to Latur/Chandrapur, where SPARSH is an evolving people’s institution that builds communities with equity towards empowerment to attain wellbeing, harmony, and fulfilment of basic rights by forging partnerships between and with community and government.
The main objective of StarTrek is to take the creators and leaders of Star Network to Latur/Chandrapur and inspire them through encounters with ordinary people who have overcome extraordinary CHALLENGES. The idea is to give an impetus to the creators to bring in elements from the lives of these extraordinary young men and women whom they visit, people who have altered their circumstances to adopt best practices across many issues, into their future works.
It will motivate the creative leadership of Star Network to build on storylines within primetime television by way of which audiences who view these programs feel driven to bring similar changes in their lives be it behavioral, attitudinal or community driven.
After the tour, ACEE in partnership with HH&S, and THE MEDIA IMPACT PROJECT, USC, will track these story lines that the creators have weaved to their programs, to measure the impact-towards-action it has had on the audience, through various traditional and non-traditional methods of research and finding/s applied to the process.
23 For more information see annexure 7 WEBSITE-
The website www.acee-thethirdeye.org engages with creative communities across the media and entertainment spectrum through regular features like THOUGHT FACTORY, TRUE REVIEW, IN THE NEWS and PRIORITIES OF OUR TIMES. The resources enable writers to tap information on priority issues from tip sheets, videos, films and write-ups.
The website uploads 7 to 9 articles of relevance each day. These are designed to be a resource for the writers and to influence them to incorporate these themes in their film and/or television storylines. The content undergoes an in- house scrutiny and an effort is being made to develop this website as a one-of its-kind resource for the media.
24 THE THIRD EYE RADIO – (WIP)
The Third Eye Radio inspires creative communities and encourages musicians and composers to create content that motivates and moves the creative leaderships of the film, television and media industries to address concerns.
The aim of The Third Eye radio is to create an audio platform with non-stop music, interviews and mediated radio in respective channels; similar to internet radio services available for free. We would also potentially in the future allow members of the website to compile their own playlists for the website.
The Third Eye radio will be functional as soon as the equipment planned and budgeted for is acquired. It would start off as a weekly podcast. As resources become more available we would be able to move to a bi weekly programme and hopefully have a daily programme within a few months.
25 THE THIRD EYE TV – (WIP)
The Third Eye TV is a medium through which the project shares its original content that ranges from compelling conditions uncovered in the hinterlands of India on our Story Bus Tour experiences to endorsements provided by our compatriots.
The Third Eye TV allows us to create awareness about causes we believe in such as Mango Girls.
The Project plans to nurture The Third Eye TV into the platform of choice for creators to gain knowledge on the current issues that are being addressed globally as well as being a medium to seek out for viewing entertaining perspectives of people from all walks of life.
As resources become available, The Third Eye TV will be producing self- generated content on a weekly basis and this content will be flashed across the project website and social media platforms.
Work done on events such as the film writer’s workshop and the film festival will create content for the Third Eye TV. These can feature programming such as panel discussions, audience interactions, film trailers, educational videos and other interactive outreach designs.
26 SOCIAL MEDIA
THE THIRD EYE engages regularly with creative communities through social media via its pages www.facebook.com/thethirdeyeacee
and www.twitter.com/thethirdeyeacee
Updates are posted every few hours on these platforms and the popularity of these pages is increasing each day.
27 NEWSLETTER- THE EYE OF THE STORM
The first issue of the e-Newsletter ‘The Eye of the Storm’ was launched on the 26th of November, 2013. It carried the highlights of the entire week’s news stories. The focus of this newsletter is an ongoing engagement with the creative communities of the world of media and entertainment.
A condensed version of the week’s news stories are delivered straight into the inbox of the chosen persons from the entertainment industry who are among our present or probable partners in this endeavour.
The second newsletter has been released on Tuesday the 3rd of December, 2013
28 WEBSITE STATISTICS
29 OTHER SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS AND ASSIGNMENTS-
Design of a Customized Tool for Impact Measurement-
There is a lack of comprehensive understanding as to how television serials create an impact on audiences. In order to highlight the need for research in the area, a questionnaire was developed by ACEE- The Third Eye Director Ms Vinta Nanda. This was designed as a post-test activity for the Star-Trek program.
The questions were surveyed in Delhi and the understanding gained from the feedback was that shows were being watched mainly for their entertainment value and were portraying traditions and cultures which led audiences to connect to them. Audiences were not interested in social issues addressed in the programs and channels were not sensitized to the fact that age-old traditions might not be relevant in today’s day and age.
For more information see annexure 8
Design of Audience Engagement Strategy for the MTV Exit Program-
ACEE has designed a strategy to reach out to those audiences which are directly or indirectly affected by Human Trafficking. The aim is to penetrate those areas which are not reached by traditional media. This ensures the creation of a platform for the discussion and carrying forward of the socially relevant messages that do not reach the people residing in these places, and if they do, the programs are not able to connect with the local audiences as audiences are of a different educational levels.
For more information see annexure 9
30 3rd FLASHPOINT Human Rights Film Festival-
FLASHPOINT Human Rights Film Festival, is organized with Solaris Pictures in association with ACEE - The Third Eye, with support from Movies That Matter (Netherlands) and Alliance Française de Mumbai. It intends to mainstream human rights issues and makes a call for the audience to act as ‘Flashpointers’.
FLASHPOINT Human Rights Film Festival has become a very important event as currently it is the only human rights film festival in India. While the first edition in 2010 saw a turnout of 1820, the second edition in 2011 had 2060 seat occupancy. The festival also has been well attended by esteemed filmmakers, critics, academics and activists.
3rd edition of FLASHPOINT Human Rights Film Festival will be held Dec 12, 13 & 14, 2013 at Alliance Française de Bombay. It will screen 13 significant films on human rights issues. These films will serve as a great catalyst for stirring discussion and debate around human rights issues – both Indian and international.
There will also be panel discussions to discuss key human rights issues, in an effort to create better understanding and enable an environment for greater social equity.
The Third Eye is co-organizing the festival along with Solaris Pictures. The Third Eye will be creating audience outreach programs through its website. It will also create and execute social media strategies through its platforms. Along with this, The Third Eye will be designing an audience impact measurement feedback form to gauge the impact such an event and the movies viewed can have on the audience.
31 WRITERS’ WORKSHOP WITH GARY LYONS
The Third Eye is partnering with The Wedding Filmer to bring Mr Gary Lyons from the University of Leeds to conduct a workshop for writers on the 15th of January, 2014.
Gary will be structuring a workshop around how one can make writing relevant to the society that one is writing for and how important it is to be relevant to cultural context in society. The Third Eye has a large databank of writers and shall be contacting each of them so as to ensure they benefit from this opportunity through this event. The Third Eye will be carrying out correspondence with our database of writers and make them cognizant of this event. Apart from that The Third Eye will help facilitate the flow of information from Gary Lyons to the writing community and maintain timely briefings with writers to gauge their level of understanding of the workshop. The Third Eye will extend the workshop to individuals that were not present at the event by leveraging the power of its website and social media platforms through videos and interactive tip sheets and session dialogues.
32 ANNEXURE INDEX
1. Elevate Conference Program 1 2. Story Bus Tours – Mahila Samakhya Bodhgaya Docket 3 3. Inquiries 35 4. Safed Doli Project Report 41 5. Sapna Project Report 61 6. Madat Project Report 74 7. Star Trek Pilot Report 84 8. Measurement Impact Questionnaire 95 9. Audience Engagement Strategy for MTV Exit 96
33 AGENDA
July 18, 2013 9:00am – 6:00pm
ACEE – The Third Eye and HH&S Event
Sandra De Castro Buffington, Chris Dzialo, Karen Tenkhoff, Carol Barbee, ACEE Team, PK De, Mahesh Bhatt, Soni Razdan, Kalpana Lajmi, Ken Ghosh, Murzban Shroff, Anjum Rajabali, Kamlesh Pandey, Pubali Choudhari, Juhi Chaturvedi, Anand Sivakumaran, Rohan Joshi, Shagufta Rafique, Anu Ranjan, Shashi Ranjan, Mukesh Attendees: Bhatt, Dr. Jayanti Singh, Dr. Kranti Rayamane and other esteemed guests
9:00am – 10:00am Registration Novotel Hotel
Delegates register with the ACEE Team
10:00pm – 10:30pm Introduction and Opening Address Novotel Hotel
Led by Sandra de Castro Buffington
10:30am – 11:30pm Masterclass Novotel Hotel
Led by Mahesh Bhatt in conversation with Rohan Joshi, Pubali Choudhari, Juhi Chaturvedi, Shagufta Rafique and Anand Sivakumaran
11:30am – 11:45am Celebrating our partner ITA’s Birthday Novotel Hotel
Join us to celebrate the birthday of the Indian Television Academy followed by a few words by Shashi Ranjan before Tea/ Coffee and Snacks
11:45am – 1:00pm Panel Discussion Novotel Hotel
Led by Sandra De Castro Buffington in conversation with Karen Tenkhoff, Carol Barbee, Anu Ranjan, Mukesh Bhatt, Anjum Rajabali and Kamlesh Pandey
1:00pm – 2:00pm Lunch Novotel Hotel
2:00pm – 4:30pm Scriptwriters workshop Novotel Hotel
Workshop and speakers Intro – Sandra de Castro Buffington
1 Writing dramatic TV health storylines in Hollywood – Carol Barbee
Writing dramatic film health storylines in Hollywood – Karen Tenkhoff
Intro Medical Doctors - Augustine Veliath
Presentation on family planning topics/myths and facts – Dr. Kranti Rayamane
Presentation on child & maternal health topics/myths and facts – Dr. Jayanti Singh
Instructions for small groups – Chris Dzialo
Small group exercise work time – Vinta Nanda, Carol Barbee, Mahesh Bhatt, Karen Tenkhoff
Presentation & critique of storylines from small group work– All
4:30pm – 6:00pm Informal Meeting Novotel Hotel
Informal conversations over Tea/ Coffee
2
JULY 20, 2013
MAHILA SAMAKHYA ACEE AND HH&S TRAVEL TO BIHAR
ACEE BODHGAYA
3
CONTENTS
1. The Sweet 17 – An introduction to Mahila Samakhya…………………………..2 2. Mahila Samakhya Welcomes You!...... 5 3. Meet Sr. Sujita…………………………………………………………………………………….10 4. Scripting for Life – A Blog by Augustine Veliath……………………….………….12 5. A baby making machine is set free – The story of Kashmira*.……………..16 6. Gaya District Profile…………………………………………………………………………….18 7. Samakhya is a sister for life – The story of Yasmeen*.………………………….20 8. I Feed the Revolution – The Story of Savita*.……………………………………….23 9. Confessions of an MS Cluster Coordinator – The story of Smita*.………..26 10. Bihar – Economic and Human development Indicators……………………….29
*Please note – There are 20,000 Mahila Samakhya stories. 500 of them have been documented at various times. Here are just four of them. The other stories would be equally good or even better.
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THE SWEET 17
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BIHAR MAHILA SAMAKHYA
1. The Mahila Samakhya(MS) programme was launched in 1988 in pursuance of the goals of the New Education Policy (1986) and the Programme of Action as a concrete programme for the education and empowerment of women in rural areas, particularly of women from socially and economically marginalised groups.
2. Mahila Samakhya - Mahila means women. Samakhya a newly coined Sanskrit word combines Sam i.e. equal and Aakhya i.e. interpretation therefore giving us ‘Equal Interpretation’ of women. MS is referred to as Education for Women’s Equality.
3. The predominant composition of the Mahila Sanghas is SC/ST women, women belonging to land-less and marginalised families, who are engaged in wage labour. This is the very group that is most alienated from educational and other Government programmes and processes.
4. A critical focus in MS is recognising the centrality of education in empowering women to achieve equality. To move towards this objective, MS has adopted an innovative approach which emphasises the process rather than mere fulfilment of targets. It seeks to bring about a change in women's perceptions about themselves and the perception of society in regard to women's "traditional roles".
5. Education in MS is understood not merely as acquiring basic literacy skills but as a process of learning to question, critically analyse issues and problems and seek solutions. It endeavours to create an environment for women to learn at their own pace, set their own
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priorities and seek knowledge and information to make informed choices. This essentially involves enabling women, especially from socially and economically disadvantaged and marginalised groups, to address and deal with problems of isolation and lack of self-confidence, oppressive social customs, struggles for survival, all of which inhibit their learning. It is in this process that women become empowered.
6. A foundation for empowerment at the grassroots level has been laid with the organisation of cohesive Mahila Sanghas (women's collectives", though different in form and size, but which are committed to collective action to address their own issues.
7. Mahila Sangha is the nodal point of Mahila Samakhya and all activities are planned around the Sangha. The Mahila Sangha will provide the space where women can meet, be together, and begin the process of reflecting, asking questions, speaking fearlessly, thinking, analyzing and above all feeling confident to articulate their needs through this collective action. Where possible, they can try and seek solutions to their problems such as fuel, fodder, drinking water - by initiating action and interacting with the block and district administration.
8. A group of two or more women, called Sakhi or Sahayaki are trained to work as catalysts who facilitate the formation of the Sangha.
9. Launched in Bihar in 1992 as a component of Bihar Education Project. (BEP). In 2006 MS became the Bihar Mahila Samakhya Society an autonomous body. The federations in the districts, each one of them are also independent bodies.
10. In 2012 alone MS Bihar has trained 166, 846 women in several competencies.
11. The 46 women’s courts have decided on 6733 cases pertaining to women.
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13. The focus is on collectives. MS seeks to make women conscientious and enable them to examine the roots of their marginalisation and try to pull those roots out. This daunting task can only be attempted through group solidarity and support.
14. MS focuses on, poor rural women, the most marginalised and with the least voice. Criticality of group solidarity stands out in MS.
15. Just over a decade ago, when the Mahila Samakhya programme began, it was difficult to find even a single literate girl/woman in some villages. Girls have demonstrated that, armed with literacy and knowledge, they can influence their parents on issues concerning their own future. For example many girls who have attended the MSK have refused to be married when they found out that they were below the legal marriage age and their parents have accepted their decision.
16. The MSK has emerged as a provider of a capable human resource pool at village, block and district level that has in turn facilitated several government and NGO initiatives for grassroots development. In villages and blocks across districts where MS operates, one can spot former MSK trainees functioning as teachers, physical education trainers, Vikas Mitras, Anganwadi workers, and Mahila Samakhya workers.
17. Many of these women emerged from extremely difficult situations to take control of their own lives, thus creating an entirely new script for themselves and their families.
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MAHILA SAMAKHYA WELCOMES YOU!
We the 20,000 Mahila Samakhya women, together with our first director and inspiration Sr. Sujita SND welcome you, the most respected and talented creative people on Earth to Bihar, the state of the future and especially to the holy cities of Gaya and Bodh Gaya.
Our journey begins in Patna, the ancient city of Patliputra, which 2200 years ago was the seat of Asoka, the greatest of emperors and the abode of geniuses like Chanakya. Today it is the capital of one of the most dynamic states of India.
A 100 million people live in the state of Bihar.
Our journey takes through the district of Jehanabad, a district which has many bloody tales to tell of the caste and class struggles of our times.
We will be narrating the 22 year long story of Mahila Samakhya in Bihar and its campaign for equality and education through six or more individual narrations.
On arrival in Bodhgaya, we will have a knowledge circle. You could hear more of our stories and ask more questions.
Welcome to the Future, the Federation On 21st morning after a visit to the Mahabodhi temple, where Lord Buddha received his enlightenment, we will proceed to see the district federation is in operation. 2500 years ago Lord Buddha gave the secret of development “Sangham Sharanam Gachami”. The basic unit of Mahila Samakhya is “The Sangha” a basic community of women.
The district federation is the future of MS. Women have come together and federated into independent organizations at the district level so that they can continue their work. Federation appoints its own staff, gets funds on its own credibility, conducts their own training programmes and is a formidable civil society organization within the district.
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You are invited to follow Rinku, our very creative and talented worker to two of her villages and see and watch how she interacts, communicates and motivates local women.
En route to the village you will see one of our training sessions on 1st 1000 Days of Life, a training intended to enhance the community’s competencies for safe motherhood, child survival and family planning. The 1st 1000 days cover from conception to the 2nd birth day of the child.
You would like to see who gets trained on what and how the training is conducted.
From the village of Mahimapur we move to Buraru to see a women’s court in action. In a country where 300 million pending cases, it is not easy for an impoverished woman to get justice. So the federation has designed a women’s court of its own. The courts and conducted in the full knowledge of the district administration and the local police. The proceedings and decisions are shared and the help of the administration and the police sought in its implementation.
You will see one of such courts in action. You can converse with the court and MS workers on their quest for justice and how it works in Gaya and in other districts of Bihar.
Formation of Formidable Women The theme of the afternoon the “Formation of Formidable Women”. Mahila Samkhya in its long struggle for education has created many innovative forms of creation. One of which is the Jag Jaggi Centre.
Jag stands for Jagat - the world and Jaggi stands for Jagran, the act of waking up. Jag Jaggi is the learning centre of the village run by women members of Mahila Samakhya.
Mahila Shikshan Kendra, (MSK) is a residential fast track remedial education centre aimed at young women who missed out on education. Women belonging to the dalits, maha dalits and minority communities who never went to school, or those dropped out in early years are welcome to join the MSK and learn the following.
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Text books upto Class V level of normal schools, Law and entitlements of women, inspiring songs on freedom and justice, crafts and skills and self- defence through karate.
The MSKs pioneered by Bihar Mahila Samakhya have now national avatar and is part of the universal education programme of India. They are called the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalay.
You are welcome to the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidhyalay at Buraru. We welcome you to listen to the 100 girls currently at the KGBV. It would be good to hear some of their stories. Do please look at their curriculum, their learning methodologies, what they have learnt what they would like to do?
From the KGBV we move to the MSK at Amos. Here is a new batch of young women. We have asked five women who have completed their education last year too to join us. Do interact with them. Hear some their stories.
When we are back in the hotel, we can continue to discuss the evolution and the struggle this large number of women in one of the most challenging states of India.
The Last and the Least On 22nd we are welcoming you to Baghaudi to a habitation of Musahars. In the labyrinth of multi layered caste system, the Musahars come last. They are excluded. They are asset-less. They have no land, no job, no dignity and no rights.
The time was not long ago, they or none of their children ever received any kind of medical assistance. Not one of their children was born in the primary health system or received the assistance of trained birth attendance. In Baghaudi, it has changed thanks to the introduction of ASHAs.
ASHA, the word means hope. It is an acronym that stands for Accredited Social and Health Activist.
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We will be meeting two ASHAs.
How were they selected? Where do they come from? How do they break through caste barriers? What response do they get from the most marginalised? What happens when they reach the health care centres How do they communicate? What was their finest moments? And night mares? Is the community happy with them?
ASHAs are introduced by the National Rural Health Mission. What is their impact on the following:
Family planning Safe Motherhood Pregnancy care Antenatal care Care during child birth Information on HIV Information on feeding and Care of young children
With Asha we will move on to the Primary Health Center at Dhobi? What is the impact of National Rural Health Mission? How does the primary health centre deal with family planning, and all other issues we have been mentioning?
How does an active and vibrant civil society organization like MS impact primary health system, delivery of health care to the excluded?
We may also look out for private practitioner, those with qualification and those without.
We have Dr Jayanti Singh with us who will tell us about the primary health system in the country if you need more information.
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The New Entrepreneurs on the Block
Our last stop will be at Chanda.
Menstrual hygiene is a basic need of every woman.
For most women, such a need is a source of embarrassment and inconvenience. Mahila Samakhya in Gaya decided to address this question. They have a “factory” producing affordable and low cost sanitary napkins.
We welcome you to see this our attempt at entrepreneurship. Come and discuss with the women entrepreneurs.
Finally do please sit down with us and tell us what you think of us and how we can help you make your creative expressions more accurate, authentic and relevant.
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MEET SISTER SUJITA
Two Leaves from the Life of Sr. Sujita in her Own Words
As a young Sister I was fortunate to experience community and mission in the context of the poor.
Three of us Sisters were among the first to live in community with the poorest of the poor in our diocese.
This came as a response to the murder of a Jesuit priest in one of the mission stations and the consequent closing of our mission there. Much Fear and Insecurity
Although we had volunteered to return to our poor villagers, there was much fear and insecurity in our hearts and also in those who welcomed us because some of those villagers were involved in the murder of the priest.
For the first several months we went from house to house, meeting the poor, eating whatever they could offer us, sleeping in any little space that was made available for us.
We had no agenda except that of re-establishing relationships with the people. We wanted them to know that we did care for them and were willing to be with them. During those months we had many intense experiences of God’s providential care.
The poor took us in to their villages and made great sacrifices to accommodate us in their little huts. At times we also experienced the pain of outright rejection and threat from people who feared that our presence would be detrimental to their vested interests.
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Strong Bond of Communion
Very clearly the three things that kept us going were an abiding experience of God’s providential care for us, the strong bond of communion that we experienced among the three of us and the wonderful relationships we developed with the poor.
In fact for me, those months and the many years that followed were greatly significant in my life as a Consecrated woman.
My life experiences with the poor changed my own understanding of my call to religious life, community and mission.
Inner Freedom to Keep Going Forward
There I experienced how community and communion empower us for mission. We developed a pattern of regular prayerful reflection on the meaning and the consequences of living our consecrated life in our present context.
It was this experience that gave us the inner freedom to keep going forward although we lacked even the very basic facilities like clean drinking water, toilets, bathing facilities, a little room of our own, electricity and such things which are considered the basic necessities of daily living.
Sharing the lot of the poor, even periodically, nurtures compassion in us and propels us to work for justice and peace in solidarity with them.
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SCRIPTING FOR LIFE: A BLOG BY AUGUSTINE VELIATH
Calling is the Word. Sujita was called. Sujita Called Everyone Else.
A 22 years long and 20,000 women strong story of Education and Justice for women in Bihar
Just think about it. Sr. Sujita is one of us, a very senior one at that.
She has a Master’s Degree in Mass Communication from the much respected Bombay St. Xavier’s.
In the early eighties she taught communication in one of the pioneering communication institutes of Eastern India.
But then she is also more decidedly one of them, about whom we need to write about and film about.
She has also a Master degree in Social Work from Nirmala Niketan, which has contributed many outstanding social workers to this country.
Not Once but Many Times
Perhaps one word could sum up Sr. Sujita’s life in one word--calling. She was called not once but many times and she answered.
But more importantly, she called many others, they all responded and they all found their calling.
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She was born in Kerala. Bihar called. She opted to go to Bihar. Not many would have done that in early seventies.
As she became a pioneering and trendsetting teacher of communication, the poor in the villages called her. She had come to Bihar to serve her Lord. Her Lord lived among the poor. What that call meant to her has been outlined in her own words in another article here.
Among the Broken People
She moved to the villages. She lived among the outcastes, the dalits, the broken people and the Mahadalits, people who are so broken, they look like the dust on your feet.
She lived in a Musahar hut, with two Masters Degrees and formidable teaching experience in communication. Musahars shunned by everyone, including the Dalits.
But that is when the Nation called her to be a path breaker, to join the nation on the education for all trail. She was called to break the shackles. The women in Bihar needed a Moses, a deliverer.
The Call from the Nation
The call came from the then Union Education Secretary the very perceptive and pioneering Anil Bordia.
Having seen her interacting and contributing at a national education meet, he did his research on her, he made his calls to the State Government. He had no doubt he had found the woman who could unite the women of Bihar in a quest for justice and education.
He laid out the Government’s vision for education for all. More importantly he unfolded the dream of Mahila Samakhya, an autonomous organization of women that will embody the finest thinking and values of gender justice and empowerment. The feminists of India were strongly behind this concept.
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The World after Jomtien
He suggested to the state Government to appoint her as the Director of Mahila Samkhya within the newly launched Bihar Education Project, the first major initiative launched anywhere in the world incorporating the vision and mission of the Jomtien Declaration.
Jomtien was where the entire world met and committed themselves to Education for All.
The Bihar Government was in a dilemma. Sr Sujita was not a Bihari. She came from a distant Kerala. She was a religious woman, belonging to a small minority community. Not even one per cent of Bihar was Christian.
But everyone who interacted with her knew, she had internalized Bihar more than anyone else. She could relate to the poor of Bihar better. The job was hers.
If calling was what brought Sr Sujita to Bihar and then to the leadership of Mahila Samakhya, that was the tool she used.
She said she received support from Bordia, from all senior government officials. The procedures and the need to do everything right even if they are not the right things have a habit of stifling all innovations. But she was upto the challenge. Mahila Samakhya survived and thrived.
She called women to join this new interpretation of themselves and the society.
15 Years After
It is 15 years since Sr Sujita left the leadership of Mahila Samakhya. Every one whom she recruited and everyone whom they recruited, still live and swear by their calling, Sr. Sujita’s calling.
Mahila Samakhya is now several federations strong. More than 20,000 women are actively MS workers and leaders today. Every district has indicators to show, that Mahila Samakhya has worked. The national education policies and
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programmes have adopted almost everything they have tried in Bihar. They have set the national norms for education.
But the Mahila Samkhya women still live by their calling, miles to go and promises to keep.
Yes my friend. Calling is the word. Have you found yours?
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A BABY MAKING MACHINE IS SET FREE
The Story of Kashmira, as told to Bella Das, the “Good Morning Peace”, blogger. (1/500 stories)
Dwelling in the gutters of poverty, fatherless and one of the nine siblings, this is a story of a woman who withstood all adversities. She today stands as ‘Fearless model’ for many.
She was the youngest of nine siblings. She lost her father when she was four months old. He was an alcoholic fisherman. She hailed from a small village in Rohtas.
Widowed and weighed down with abject poverty, Kashmira’s mother found an easy solution. …Get her married at the early age of ten to a man thirty years older. She was going to be his additional and “junior” wife. Marriage spelt the onward journey of her struggles.
She had no knowledge about a men or life itself… and these were the words she was constantly told.
‘I have married you to bear children and that’s your duty. Don’t even dream of having an operation …’
She was but a mere baby machine, bore seven children and was condemned to endless drudgery.
Her day started at three in the morning , seemed never ending with the list of chores from kitchen to toiling in the field, rearing children and finally, submission to the beatings of the first and “senior” wife and demands of an abusive husband.’ She had no support of her own parental family or anyone else.
Life seemed a tough journey. To die seemed better. “I decided to live”!
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When her fourth child was four months old and joined Mahila Samakhya in 1992. This was the turning point in her life. I visited village after village along with the Sakhees (friends) of Mahila Samakhya and made women’s groups.
“I was beaten by the villagers as they got this notion that I was misleading their women. I carried on... There was no turning back.”
Her thirst for knowledge lead her to ‘Jagjaggi Kendra- Literacy Centre’ run by Mahila Samakhya where he was taught to read newspapers. Jagjaggi was a new coinage. Jagat was the world, Jagran was the act of waking up. In Jagjaggi set in the heart of your village and run by women, you woke up to the world.
Subsequently she was offered the job of a Security guard at Mahila Samakhya which was challenging but she shouldered it fearlessly, which she had to leave with the death of her husband.
She continued her work and started helping out with cases of women abuse such as rape, dowry death, child marriage etc.
Today she helps women who are victims of trafficking...one such case was her involvement in the rescue of a women from Nepal for which she also received an honour from the Nepal Border Police.
“I actively participate in getting justice for women through ‘Naari Adaalat - Women’s Court’ of which I am the Chairperson. I have educated my children. They follow me.
I love my freedom...I LIVE today “.
Mahila Samakhya set me free.
I stand ‘Fearless’!
I am at Peace. Peace sets you free. Peace sets everyone free.
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GAYA DISTRICT PROFILE
The district has a common boundary with the state of Jharkhand in the south. Gaya city is the largest city, and district headquarters.
Gaya was given the status of an independent district in 1865. Subsequently, in May 1981, Magadha division was created by the Bihar state government with the districts of Gaya, Nawada, Aurangabad and Jehanabad. All these districts were sub-divisions when Gaya district was created.
Around 29% of Gaya’s population belongs to the scheduled castes. Muslims constitute around 12% of the population.
Gaya has a land area that equal Trinidad and a population that equal Moldova or the State of Kentucky.
No Indicator Data 1 Population Persons 3,473,428 Male 1,792,163 Female 1,681,265 Children (0 to 4 years) 444,584 Decadal growth (1991-2001) 30.19% Rural 2,997,479 (86.30%) Urban 475,949 (13.70%) Sex ratio (females per 1,000 males) 938 Household size (per household) 7 SC population 1,029,675 (29.64%) ST population 2,945 (0.08%) 2 Literacy rate Persons 50.45 Male 63.27 Female 36.66 3 Religious groups (largest three) Hindus 3,063,841 Muslims 403,439 Religion not stated 1,622 4 Important towns (largest three)
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Gaya 385,432 Sherghati 32,526 Bodh Gaya 30,857 5 Amenities in villages Total inhabited villages 2,680 Villages with: Safe drinking water 2,678 Electricity (domestic) 227 Primary schools 1,635 Medical facility 278 Paved approach road 711 6 Health Pregnant women* who received at least 24.2% three or more antenatal check-ups Pregnant women* who received at least one 37.3% TT injection Women* who had institutional delivery 20.7% Children aged 12-23 months who were fully 35.7% immunised** Children aged 12-23 months who received at 48.3% least one dose of Vitamin A 7 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Households issued job cards# 347,311 Cumulative person days employment 35,750 generated#
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“SAMAKHYA IS A SISTER FOR LIFE”
Yasmeen Khatoon from Purnea. As told to Bella Das, the Good Morning Peace Blogger. (2/500)
My misfortune was I was orphaned, ill-treated and abandoned at a young age. I do remember my mother. My mother was widowed at an early age. She entered into a second marriage. However the cycle of hunger continued as there were many mouths to feed. The only celebration must have been my birth as I was born after my parents lost their first child.
As I grew up there were no more celebrations. The worst was yet to come when I lost my mother while in middle school and was looked after by my maternal uncle. Schooling became a distant dream and verbal and physical abuse became the order of the day. ‘How dare you dream of education when you have no means, was the question.
His ruthless behavior left us rudderless. We were left with no option but stay with the only family member alive...our grandfather. I was completely heartbroken….
We toiled hard to survive. As a child I was a school dropout. Today as a married woman I am undergraduate student. I am in the second year of my graduation and feel proud that I could make it. What made that possible was an elder sister called Mahila Samakhya.
It is a Mahila Samkhya Didi, the affectionate term for an elder sister with which we call our seniors in MS, who identified me and took me into the MS fold. Little did I know that Mahila Samakhya was to remain my elder sister all my life!
The journey as a member of the organisation was not without challenges. I was not popular during my initial phase with Mahila Samakhya. Because of my active involvement and enthusiasm was interpreted as making trouble. People got
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scared. They accused me of misleading women. Scared I would not take my husband’s name while interacting with people, lest I face trouble at home... I feel empowered today and altogether a new person.
There was a time when I feared stepping out of my house. Today I visit other villages interacting with all without any kind of inhibition. I have gained recognition and acceptance by the Panchayat (local self-government) members as well. Today I have fair knowledge on health issues and wanted to share them with my sisters in the community. So I worked extensively on health and in course of my work came to realize the growing need of working more on it. I encouraged girls to get education for I understood that education was the lifeline and for lifetime. I helped in conducting several literacy camps and made many self-help groups (SHG’s).
The more I worked the more inspired I got. I am halfway towards fulfilment of my dream. My dream will be realized when I become fully capable of achieving the vision of Mahila Samkhya...that is ‘powering women while working with them. I love Mahila Samakhya. Enabling women enough to fight for their own rights is what I live for’ MS is my elder sister and I am elder to many.
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“A spirituality that is visible, credible and prophetic is the basis for giving life its vitality and meaning.”
- SR. SUJITA
“...A spirit of adventure and a sense of mystery are not mutually exclusive.”
- SR. SUJITA
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“I FEED THE REVOLUTION”
The story of Savita from Purnea As told to Bella Das, the “Good Morning Peace” Blogger. (3/500)
I was reluctant to join Mahila Samakhya. Yet I joined … This is my story.
A daughter is an extension of her mother. That is what I was told. So I served her mother. I helped her while growing up in every way possible way, most often at the cost of my own future. And so I did not go to school.
I got married at a good age of 22 which in the villages is a very ripe age for marriage. I did not get love from my husband. I was another piece of furniture, another utility lying around. Women were mere commodities and to be used.
Once while on a visit to my parent’s place I heard about the second marriage of my husband. On hearing this, I returned to my husband’s place. The fact was denied by my mother in law. However I refused to go back to my parents and decided to stay back and fight.
My life got worse as I was maltreated and led a life worse than that of an animal. I gave birth to a baby girl which added to my miseries.
Tired I returned to my father’s home but I was not welcome there. Eventually I persuaded my father to keep me. ‘My husband came to take his “property” back but I just could not go…Life was terrible’. I cried. My father then lodged a case against my husband complaining against the torture he meted out to me every day of our married life.
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My husband was jailed. After his return I have come back to my husband’s place for he asked me to...Now there are no screams and beatings. Law, once invoked, is powerful I realized.
I never had a good life. Subdued and submerged by the patriarchal set up, I came to know about Mahila Samakhya for my friends. But it did not interests me. For me, it was mere stories which added no meaning to my life. I had no hope.
Subsequently I started wondering about the attraction Mahila Samakhya had for women who were joining in numbers. I gradually started listening to stories from my friends and finally attended one of its meetings on being invited by the cluster coordinator.
I was not alone in my misery. There were others … This was a place where I could share and learn. Motivated, I became a member and my life witnessed a change. My husband did not approve. But there was no going back. I wanted to show my commitment by helping woman. I was woman and I would work for women.
I got involved more and more in the many programmes of Mahila Samakhya. I got involved in health programmes and education for girls for I was not literate...but made all attempt to get the light of education in the lives of girls. I worked on women’s rights extensively. Got hand pumps (for water) for the most needy because we had to walk miles to fetch water.
My biggest achievement in life was when my husband gave up being an alcoholic. I have three children who are in my school. I treat my children as equals. Today I am an earning member as I earn through tailoring. I have joined the catering services of the Mahila Samakhya and help in the kitchen. This way I know “I am feeding a revolution”. What do I love about life today? .. My Independence of thought and action … Peace is nurturing and being nurtured.
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CONFESSIONS OF AN MS CLUSTER COORDINATOR FROM KAIMOOR.
The story of Smita Kumari, as told to Bella Das, “the Good Morning Peace” Blogger. (4/500)
In numbers we were equal, three brothers and three sisters. But in real life, experiences did not match up. Boys went to school and play, girls to work and drudgery.
Father, a labourer, had a hard time catering to the needs of the immediate family of seven and extended family of more.
Mother toiled hard to make both ends meet.
There were always needs, many unmet. Educational needs of girls were in the last rung of the ladder of priorities. Everybody climbed stepping on the last rung. They did not forget to wipe their feet clean on the last rung.
“How will education help you?” “I have taught my son to be a graduate and still he is without a job.” “Daughters eventually belong to someone else anyway ...so why educate them?” These were my father’s lines. I heard them many times day after day.
So I learnt to do household work, helped in farming, cattle grazing and other chores.
Every day I used to pray to get the boon of education. My prayers were heard after all. My father’s cousin who was an employee of the Department of Education Bihar had good news. He told my father about a residential and fast track remedial school the Mahila Samkhya was opening. It was meant for girls like me who missed out on education, those who never enrolled and those who dropped out early.
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Plainly called Women’s Education Centers or MSKs (Mahila Shikshan Kendras) girls would receive free fast track remedial education for eight months.
After great persuasion my father agreed to send me for the training and my life saw a change. After clearing my grade five exams thanks to MSK, I wanted to learn further but in vain. Where was the money?
But I had learnt much more than three “R”s. I had learnt to believe in me and in the strength of women’s unity. I had learnt about laws that help women, about entitlements, about successful struggles of other women. I had learnt karate and could defend myself in case of an emergency. I also met women across the state would defend me and support me. I was not alone. There were 20,000 women behind me.
My thirst for knowledge would not let me give up and so I expressed my desire for further studies to the school teacher who finally convinced my father and I could then continue my studies along with my work. Today I am a proud graduate.
In 2007 I was chosen as the cluster Coordinator for Mahila Samakhya. I became a leader and motivator of women. This makes me a teacher, facilitator, campaigner and promoter of gender justice, equity and equality. Women have rights which they ought to enjoy. It is my job to make it happen.
Working on issues of women is my passion today. I have prevented six girls from being married under age. People do not dare to arrange child marriages in my area, because they know I will go after them.
I know education is at the root of empowerment and autonomy. I wanted girls never to miss on it. Many benefitted from the Mahila Samakhya education programme and continue to do so. Domestic violence issues are common and we have resolved quite a few.
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I learnt to fight for our rights. One such cases I remember was when a well sanctioned for our village was being dug in another village. As a team we took up the case with the Government authorities. We won.
Reflecting back I feel that nothing is impossible. The challenges that I faced were enormous. I was the ‘trouble maker ’of the village. I was inciting other women...So be it. Women in trouble know whom to turn to when they are cornered.
My message to my sisters is …
KEEP THE SPIRIT ALIVE. Peace is a bunch of spirited women, alert and active. May peace prevail in your community.
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34 Today’s date: 6th August 2013 Inquiry # 1
INQUIRY INFORMATION First: last name: Mr. Age: Tarun
Email id Guild/Assoc: Contact Number
[email protected] FWA ( )
Occupation: Employer: City
Scriptwriter Self - Employed Mumbai
Nature of Topic: Health: Yoga and Meditation
Specific area of interest: The writer wishes to gain relevant Medical Information regarding the positive and negative aspects of yoga and meditation on the body and the mind of people that follow the practice.
Nature of Project: Feature Film
Project stage: Scripting and ideation
Network/ Studio: N/A
Story Brief: The writer is developing a story based on four individuals from different backgrounds and parts of India that get drawn by the practices of Acharya Rajneesh and wish to join his institute. It revolves around the way their lives change after being inducted in this new belief and way of living life
Inquiry Brief: The writer wants to understand the medical relevance of yoga and meditation practiced and taught by an Indian spiritual teacher, Acharya Rajneesh. This writer has read a few books and done preliminary research on the internet regarding the ill effects of this type of yoga.
Help that can be offered: Taking the nature of the inquiry as being beyond the mandate of the project and moving away from priority topics that we focus on and given that the writer is still in the stage of developing his script and does not have any studio backing, we feel that this inquiry does not hold much weightage does not need immediate feedback. Therefore we feel giving this
35 writer access to some medical literature on the benefits and ill-effects of yoga and meditation would be adequate.
36 Today’s date: 6th August 2013 Inquiry # 2
INQUIRY INFORMATION First: last name: Mr. Age: Sanjay Sharma
Email id Guild/Assoc: Contact Number
FWA Executive [email protected] ( ) Committe
Occupation: Employer: City
Scriptwriter Self - Employed Mumbai
Nature of Topic: Health: Blindness
Specific area of Interest: The writer wishes to gain relevant medical information regarding the perception of sight to blind individuals.
Nature of Project: Feature Film (independent)
Project stage: Completion of 1st draft of story to be reviewed by financers of the writer’s project
Network/ Studio: N/A
Story brief: The story is about a medical student/researcher that travels to India from the US for further study on blind individuals. It speaks about the phenomenon called echolocation and whether blind individuals actually use this technique to gain perception of sight. The writer further tells us that the story does not deal as much with the medical aspect to blindness but has a more human-interaction approach to it and deals with aspects of love/struggle etc
Inquiry Brief: The writer wishes to meet with a medical professional that can give him some insight on the type of visuals seen or experienced by people with different levels of blindness. Furthermore, the writer wants to understand the perspective of adults with blindness. The research already carried out by the writer includes visits to a local blind school where he has interacted with blind children and also has done preliminary internet research on blindness
37 Help that can be offered: As the writer wishes to validate the information he has already gained using the internet and his interaction with people who are blind, a meeting with a medical expert on blindness can be the best possible way to entertain this query. The writer claims that his main aim is to have accurate information in his script and his deadline for scripting is the 15th of August. Also being a member of the Executive Committee of the Film Writers Association and having gained our referral from Anjum Rajabali, this inquiry can be treated as fairly important and needs to be resolved as swiftly as possible. Besides meeting an expert, relevant information on studies carried out on alternate methods of sight perception can be given to this individual.
38 Today’s date: 26th September 2013 Inquiry # 3
INQUIRY INFORMATION First: last name: Tripti Kappu Ms Age: Sharma
Email id Guild/Assoc: Contact Number [email protected] ( +91 ) 9821140121
Occupation: Employer: City
Scriptwriter Self - Employed Mumbai
Nature of Topic: Legal: Acid - Attacks Health: Psychological effect on victim’s family members
Specific area of Interest: The writer wishes to gain an insight on the evolving law that governs the case of acid-attacks on women in the country as well as psychological insight on the victim’s kin
Nature of Project: Feature Film (independent)
Project stage: Conceptual Stage. The writer will commence writing once relevant information from the Third Eye has been acquired
Network/ Studio: At present, the story has no network/ studio backing. The writer wishes to pitch the story to directors. The story will then be pitched to a network/studio once the writer has backing from a director.
Story brief: As the story is still in the conceptual stages, a brief story outline has not been completed. However, the writer wishes for the story to be a commercial thriller.
Inquiry Brief: The writer wishes to meet with legal experts that specialize in criminal law and can offer an insight to the evolving law around acid attacks on women in the country. The writer has been inspired by a recent string of attacks on women across the country. The writer wants information on the conviction process, recent changes in law and regulation on procurement of acid. She also wishes to gather information on past cases where the accused have got bail and walked away from the case. Apart from the legal aspect, the writer wants to interact with the family members of individuals that have faced this kind of
39 abuse and wants to understand the family dynamics and psychological effect it has on the family. Furthermore, she would wish to gain an understanding of the male psyche which causes them to carry out such attacks.
Help that can be offered: The writer feels that apart from preliminary research carried out through the internet, an up-close and personal interaction would give her more information. We feel that we can connect this writer to a criminal lawyer that has experience in handling cases for abuse against women. Apart from this, we can offer the writer to meet with an NGO (Acid Survivors Foundation of India, Stop Acid Attacks Org) that deals with rehabilitating victims. Furthermore, we can connect the writer with psychologists that deal with trauma. As the writer wishes to finish research on the project in the next one month and begin working on her script, we should give this query a timeline of one month since the date of inquiry.
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ACEE - The Third Eye HH&S
Safed Doli Project Plan July 2013
2013 Copyright ACEE - The Third Eye and HH&S
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Disclaimer:
The information contained in this project plan is confidential and proprietary to ACEE – The Third Eye (the Organization) and is intended only for the persons to whom it is transmitted by the organization or its representatives. Any reproduction of this document, in whole or in part, or the divulgence of any of its content without prior written consent of the organization, is prohibited.
Each potential business partner specifically understands and agrees that any estimates, projections, revenue models, forecasts or assumptions are by definition uncertain and thus possibly unreliable. Any party considering a transaction with ACEE – The Third Eye agrees to looks solely to its own diligence.
For more information please contact:
Vinta Nanda – Director – ACEE – The Third Eye
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +91 98200 40680
Office: +91 22 652 66620
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Contents1) Specifications 4 2) Brief Synopsis 5 3) Concept 6 4) Specific Gates Priority Health Topics Addressed 7 5) Specific ways/ plots through which gates priority/topics are compellingly addressed 7 6) Brief Engagement strategy for priority topics 7 7) Impact and realization of gates priority topics 8 8) Story 10 9) Bios of Key Personnel 19 10) Powerpoint presentation (attached as an annexure)
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Title1) Specifications- SAFED DOLI
Genre/Format - Social Drama/ Feature Film
Running Time - 120 minutes
No. of Episodes - N.A
Approximate budget in USD - $2.75 million dollars
NAMES AND ROLES OF KEY PERSONNEL
Co-Production - ACEE-The Third Eye, Beyond Entertainment Tracks and Kalpana Lajmi Production
Producers - Deepak Bhalla, Vinta Nanda and Kalpana Lajmi
Executive Producers - Sandra de Castro Buffington & Augustine Veliath
Content Strategy - Chris Dzialo
Director - Kalpana Lajmi
Writers - Kalpana Lajmi & Shiv Bhalla
Creative Team - Pratik Punjabi & Shiv Bhalla
Dialogue Writer -TBD
LOG LINE
Safed Doli is a story of a young girl’s struggle against oppression and adversity. When broken down to the point of despair she rises like a phoenix from the ashes to finally silence her detractors once in for all.
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A film2) based on theBrief life of a Synopsisyoung girl belonging to a community of performers which travels from one place to another with a decrepit circus barely able to sustain itself in present times. When she was born Anamika lost her mother at childbirth and was given shelter by Kamakshi, the high priestess of the Durga temple, and brought up under her guidance to become independent and wise. When Anamika grows up, she meets Naren, the son of the ruthless feudal lord of Shantipur, Rudrapratap. She falls helplessly in love. A benevolent Naren reciprocates and offers to marry her, and when his father Rudrapratap gives his consent, he shocks his supporters, the Brahmins, who protest symbolically and accuse Rudrapratap of blasphemy. The marriage takes place despite opposition and as celebrations begin, news comes in that her Naren has died in a fatal accident. Mourning begins and Anamika who is bedecked for a colorful send-off is stripped off her finery, tonsured and dressed in white after which a dark procession arrives from the house of her in laws and takes her away to the home where she is ordained to spend the rest of her life as a widow in the outhouses. Anamika is considered to be a bad omen whose shadow must not cross the living quarters. How a twist of fate changes Anamika's helpless life of exploitation at the hands of her dead husbands brothers' and father, to finding love and escaping her sorrows, is a beautiful tale of anguish and hope. (Detailed Synopsis in a PPT attached).
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3)The storytellingThe ofConcept the narrative will be reminiscent of the ethnic folk culture of Bihar; where the story is set. The colours, textures, music, score, language and syntax will be true to the ethnicity of the area, to achieve an advanced sense of realism that transports the audiences to the landscapes and societies rich in central Indian culture; and ubiquitous in its style of expression. The idea behind the narrative is through the oral tradition of folk music, the purpose of the storytelling is not only to keep the listener rapt in twists and turns of the story; but to also include the landscape of social commentary and collective consciousness.
The format and structure of the narrative will be synonymous with a political/ action thriller, where the visual narrative does not run on a linear framework of time. From the dark, the audience is able to grasp more and more as the plot thickens, until it ultimately climaxes as all the twisting and turning threads of the story come together in one brilliant, fleeting moment of clarity; which makes the film well worth watching entirely on the edge of one’s seat. By employing tact and revealing bits and pieces of the story to the audience, a compelling and riveting narrative is created; leaving the audience yearning for the next big reveal. This form of presentation, coupled with powerful imagery, compels the audience to empathize with characters and have an intimate understanding of their complexities and conflicts.
Visually, juxtaposing the journey of the protagonist Anamika with the metaphorical journey of a train from departure to arrival will be effective in allowing the audience to grasp the threads of the story and give the narrative a sense of coherence. The train is also used as a visual metaphor to represent the progress and regression caused by awareness and violence respectively. The train is the running line, the narrative if you may; between dusk and dawn, night and day, good and evil, right and wrong. It thunders on the edge of obligation and morality.
This is the story of the girl child Anamika, who born into abject poverty rises to a position of power in the palace of her town of Shantipur, only to fall again into the decadent walls of a brothel. She is broken out and thrown to the feet of a revolutionary workers movement. There she is trained in the cunning art of assassination. And from there like a phoenix, she rises from the ashes to redeem herself and all those who came from her beginnings. A tale of true grit.
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4) Specific Gates Priority Health Topics
AdImportancedressed of vaccinations—especially continuing to vaccinate one’s children against polio (even though has been eradicated in India, vaccination is still crucial so it doesn’t come back) and vaccination against rotavirus. Maternal & Child (really infant) health—which means family planning, breastfeeding, not expressing colostrums, hand-washing, kangaroo/skin-to-skin infant care. Agriculture/nutrition—making agriculture sexy (community/family gardens, importance of proper nutrition for children, etc)
5) Specific Ways/Plots In Which Gates Priority/TopicsAnamika loses her mother at childbirth Are andCompellingly thus the issue of maternal Addressed and child health surfaces. Soon after birth when Anamika is considered as a bad omen, her family’s wish to kill her brings light to the issue of female infanticide. Kamakshi the high priestess nurtures Anamika and ensures that she is immune from Polio and other deadly diseases. The town of Shantipur is comprised of the agricultural community where agriculture is the main source of their income. Rudrapratap is a ruthless feudal lord and through his character we address the issue of child rights and bonded labor.
6) Brief Engagement Strategy For Priority TopicsThe marketing of the film will adopt strategies to engage with audiences to discuss various issues that the film will address. (E.g. Engage with mainstream and vernacular media to regularly discuss the issues that will be addressed in the film) Once the film is released we will ensure its outreach beyond theater and television through NGO’s and farmer units where the issues can be discussed with communities post the screening. Actors in the film will champion cause.
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7) Impact and Realization of Gates Priority
a. TopicsTarget audience:
Male/ females: The setting of the story will hold appeal among men because of their identity with the violence and sex that they encounter in their daily lives, and empathy with the central and supporting characters will bring the women in.
The music, a fusion of the deepest Indian folk with contemporary Bollywood, will take the project to the heart of each and every Indian across the world. A strange paradox which traps the Indian male will be addressed through this story; that of angst for not being able to protect their own women, which manifests itself in their disrespect for, violence and abuse of women who are not their own mothers, sisters, wives or daughters.
The socio economic realities which compel the lowest classes to accept feudal practices and therefore, maintain the status quo which does not disturb the applecart and allows a society to prevail, where the rich get richer and the poor become poore, is addressed through the narrative.
Safed Doli is a peep into that world existing in massive numbers in modern India, which remains trapped in sludge, while the rest of the world moves on. The people who survive systemic failure at every level and hopelessly watch the rest of the world pass them by, until one powerful person takes it on.
b. Age group 18 years and above: A mature concept will hold appeal to audiences in a universal viewing segment c. Socio economic segment of A/B/C/D/E: The environment in which the movie is based will hold appeal across the board, and will tug special empathy chords of the lower socio economic class as the situation faced by them will be more in line with what is depicted on the screen, and the upper classes for its structure and style which will be Tarantino-esq and edgy. d. North and Western parts of India: Since the movie is in Hindi. Specifically Bihar where the feudal system is pre-dominant e. Specific Call to Action:
Viewers are expected raise their voice against oppression and abuse of power by feudal lords still prevalent in areas like Bihar. 2013 Copyright ACEE - The Third Eye and HH&S
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Set in a village where agriculture is the primary source of income, the film will promote agriculture.
Kali, the protagonist is born in the same moments when the woman giving her birth dies. She is considered a bad omen and ostracized and attempts are made to end her life. The head priestess of the Durga temple rescues her and protects her from superstitious people as well as disease. She ensures that the girl child is vaccinated and grows up to be a healthy woman. She educates Kali.
Therefore the film will address various priority issues seamlessly through its narrative, without making it seem like they have been embedded to educate.
Today health, economic independence, education and knowledge are empowering, so a story which attempts to take a girl child through a journey in adverse circumstances, to become an icon of change, has the potential to explore the spectrum of all issues which are related to each other.
Politics, good and bad, caste system and inequality are the bedrock of the story.
f. Success measurement:
Increase in registration of people from across castes in the governance system of the state, starting from the panchayat level.
Knowledge of rights, health and legal to empower ordinary people will be imparted.
Access to health facilities will be highlighted.
Information, awareness and behavioural change can be achieved with careful handling of the creativity behind the project.
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8)
Written By: Kalpana Lajmi and Shiv Bhalla Safed Doli: The Story First Draft
Shantipur, Bihar in the late 1980’s is a relatively feudal village emerging into a town ruled over by a maharaja. The structure of society is still largely controlled by the intricately ingrained caste system. The superior castes are housed in the centre of the village. The homes are occupied by progressively inferior castes as one moves away from the centre of the town. The only antithesis of this caste hierarchy exits in the gypsy circus on the outskirts of the village.
Prior to Rudrapratap’s rule, his father Narendrapratap was Maharaja. Narendrapratap saw his son as a megalomaniacal and held onto his throne hoping his son’s behaviour and outlook would change once he grew closer to becoming Narendrapratap’s heir to the throne. Rudrapratap grew restless to the power he felt entitled to. He contemplated usurping his father’s authority, but Narendrapratap was a democratic leader and was adored by the people of Shantipur.
Simultaneously, the Brahmins, the priest class of society were discontent with Narendrapratap’s liberal approach to governance. Under his rule, the Brahmins lost a significant amount of power and influence that their ancestors had cultivated and grown as advisors to the royal family. Capitalising on the Brahmins feelings of being jilted by the Royal family, Rudrapratap formed a secret society, a council consisting of the top levels of Brahmins priest. The purpose and agenda of this society was concerned with establishing and maintaining a caste hierarchy of power. Secretly Rudrapratap meets this council to plot and execute the assassination of his father, therefore rendering him the rightful heir to the throne.
In the dead of the night, Narendrapratp is found dead asphyxiated to death, blood leaks from a deep wound in his trachea has painted the carpet crimson.
To maintain his dominion and power over Shantipur, Rudrapratap gradually exercised his power, while still maintaining the illusion of democracy. He colluded with an advisor named Uday Sigh, who had a Marxist disposition, his charisma reminiscent of Leon Trotsky of the Russian revolution. Uday Singh’s speeches would entice the population to feel like their civil rights and liberties were being fought for. This helped Rudrapratap gain the trust of the people, until his advisor got carried away and enticed the people into asking for more. Rudrapratap responded by having this advisor exiled to the forest on the outskirts of the village. Establishing his totalitarian dominance, Rudrapratap rules by holding fear over people. Using illusion and trickery, embracing the mythos emerging from a self proclaimed witch and a band of dwarves who originated from the gyspy community outside Shantipur; he often paraded them,
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Simultaneously, the birth of a Girl under strange circumstances sparks controversy in the Gypsy community outside of Shantipur. Her mother died in the process of giving birth, the child is perceived as a bad omen, especially in a time where superstitious thinking had peaked. An aggravated mob rushes to take immediate action. The norm was to offer the child as a sacrifice to the Gods. Rudrapratap had placed one of his Brahmin councilmen as the high priest of the Durga temple in to propagate religious fundamentalism. By instilling the fear of God in the relatively free Gypsy community, Rudrapratap was able to contrive a means of control over the community.
Recently however, the Brahmin priest had come to pass and Kamakshi, a priestess under his mentorship had risen to become the high-priestess of the temple. Kamakshi is a strong minded woman, with spiritual leanings; was absolutely averse to Rudrapratap’s misuse of religion. As a frenzied mob carried the condemned girl Anamika to her absolution, Kamakshi stands against the stream, ready to embrace her newfound authority and use it for benevolence. As she stands before the malevolent crowd, the image is truly surreal. With fire in her eyes, Kamakshi’s charisma and passion manifest into an eloquent speech of indignant angst. She talks of the potential of a girl and how feminine energy is oppressed against out of fear and insecurity. She makes the men feel shame for their egotistical narrow- mindedness and manages to save the life of Anamika.
Growing up, Anamika is brought up to be independent, intelligent and righteous by Kamakshi, who had long been abdicated from the Durga temple. Rudrapratap had heard of her actions and condemned her as a blasphemer and a heretic. He replaced her with one of his garden variety Brahmins who preached the same doctrine other Brahmins preached within the village. Anamika is fashioned by the freedom of the village and the spiritual inspiration of Kamakshi, contrasted by the dichotomy of oppression in Shantipur under Rudrpratap’s Tyranny; to be virtuous, rebellious and active in the execution of justice as far as her influence allowed.
Rudrapratap’s son Naren returns to Shantipur having attained a degree in infrastructural engineering overseas. To Rudrapratup this was nothing but a status symbol. Having sent his son to be educated abroad, Rudrapratap had bragging rights. He enjoyed showcasing his affluence, never able to see beyond superficiality. Naren however, had developed depth and character. He saw ways to adapt his skills in architecture to improve the infrastructure of Shantipur. A rift between Rudrapratap and Naren formed as soon as Naren returned to Shantipur. Rudrapratap expected that his son would apply his knowledge to beautify the palace where they lived. He was surprised to hear that Naren wanted to develop sustainable sewage systems and make energy use more efficient.
Naren finds it increasingly difficult to execute his aspirations due to the corrupt beaurocratic nature of the government. He decides to join politics to counteract the inefficient government from within. Upon hearing this, Rudrapratap grows resentful of his son’s actions, also feeling his power threatened.
Culture was also divided by caste in Shantipur. Parts of town cordoned off for different castes, integration was looked down upon. However, once a year the gypsy community celebrated the spring equinox with a sort of masquerade carnival. Anonymity allowed the mingling of all castes of society for this brief period of time. 2013 Copyright ACEE - The Third Eye and HH&S
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By now, Anamika is a performer in the gypsy circus, she sends audiences into rapture with her graceful trapeze stunts, her knife throwing accuracy and various other tricks showcasing her agility, balance and focus.
Naren has joined politics. He has managed to use the influence of his father’s name to accomplish a meaningful amount of infrastructural work in the village. He feels that society is far too backward and feels inspired to make a change for the better. He hopes to introduce education and equality to all parts of society.
It is during the equinox festival that Anamika and Naren exchange glance. Naren seems to be intoxicated by Anamika’s complete and utter disregard for inhibition or modesty. He looks at her as having had transcended the shackles of society and is in great admiration of her. Anamika on the other hand is oblivious to Naren’s attention, and when she notices him; passes him off as a lecherous pervert.
Over time Naren makes visits to the Gypsy community to court Anamika, she feels irritated by all his attention. Naren however, is in relentless pursuit, which bothers Anamika more and more. A few months later, Anamika candidly notices Naren at his infrastructural work. It is then that she begins to respect him and a romance between the two buds.
Naren and Anamika discuss Naren’s ambition to democratize and develop Shantipur. He teaches her the political philosophies he learned his time abroad. As time goes on Naren gets his ticket for a seat for the election. He decided to tell his father, who has been in the dark thus far.
Already threatened by the changes his son has made, Rudrapratap is infuriated by his son’s revelation of his decision and action to join politics. Naren chooses this time to tell his father his plans to marry Anamika. The caste difference between the two further angers Rudrapratap, he dismisses his son. Naren decides to leave his father to cool off.
Naren contemplates. He is engulfed by the rapture of Anamika’s appeal. Anamika’s sexual liberation intimidates Naren, yet excites him at the same time. Coming from the gypsy community, Anamika was always encouraged to be free sexually. During the spring, the season of fertility; children in their adolescence were expected to go through an orgiastic sexual ritual as a rite of passage. They were left in large numbers in a shed, to explore their sexualities, anatomies and passions. This was culture shock to Naren, who was brought up in a household of sexual repression, where it was considered crass to even mention sex. What Naren first perceived as raw sex during the first time they fornicated, he later came to realize was Anamika offering her mind body and soul to him.
After contemplation, it appears Rudrapratap has had a change of heart. He apologises to his son for his haste and disrespect. He shows what appears to be genuine sincerity for the first time through Naren’s eyes. Naren is over the moon, having attained his father’s blessing he rushes to propose to Anamika. She immediately agrees, and the two fantasize of the utopia that they plan to build, the castles in their mind’s eye... A Garden of Eden floating in the landscapes of their minds.
The Brahmins are stunned by Rudrapratap’s sudden change of faith. They accuse him of blasphemy, senility even insanity. They cannot believe after all the work they put in to overthrow Rudrapratap’s father, he himself resorted to the same ideology. The Brahmin’s take to protest in the streets, the citizens of Shantipur feel change palpable in the air.
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Shanipur bustles in celebratory spirit as festivities in anticipation of the royal wedding take place. There is debate, or gossip rather about how it is the first time a royal is marrying below his caste and whether it is good for society or not. The agitation of the Brahmin clergy seems to have subsided, the stoic members of the priest class appear to be more passive aggressive.
As the ceremonies unfold, the election grows closer. This will be the first time that an elected representative from Shantipur would work in the government. After the final wedding ceremony, Naren must urgently meet a party representative. He promises Anamika that he will return to take her to the palace in a red “doli”: the symbol of newlyweds.
***
Waiting patiently, Anamika is shocked to see a safed (white) doli appear to bring her to the palace. This brings an eerie feeling of dread and melancholy to her sentiment. The safed doli is the symbol of a widow.
***
A very sombre atmosphere in the palace, even in mourning Anamika feels the eerie invisible lines of patriarchal hierarchy at play through observing the household. Contrary to the Gypsy community in times of grief, the atmosphere at the palace is devoid of any consolation towards Anamika. She is isolated to the company of her thoughts and the comfort of her memories. The women go about their chores, avoiding their conscience, grief and guilt. The men drown in their lethargy; some intoxicated, faceless in their groggy stupor. Rudrapratap appears to be pensive, yet as time passes he becomes stoic; beginning to hold his court and deal with his daily business.
Anamika is escorted to a separate chamber on the second story of the palace. The chamber is on a foyer reserved for guests. All the other chambers were currently unoccupied. Anamika was left to her own devices for the three days of mourning. Her only social contact was restricted to exchanges of greetings with the maids that brought Anamika her food.
After the funeral, Anamika begins to work with the women of the house. She finds herself on the lowest level of the chain. She is subject to the tyranny of the older wives of the higher council members and Rudrapratap’s wife Mandakini. She was condemned to perform the most repetitive menial task, as well as the dirtiest one’s; while the other ladies drank tea and gossiped. Anamika realized the futility of resisting their control; the women were too conniving and calculating to overcome. They had the numbers and had established their system and order. Anamika was an outsider, a misfit. Of course she would be on the lowest level.
Whenever she saw Rudrapratap, he was detached; a characteristic ubiquitous to all the men of the upper castes of Shantipur. He seemed to be deeply involved within his own affairs; his uptight body language did have characteristics that suggested that he did have something bothering him. Even though Anamika felt indignant because the way the womenfolk treated her and because of her grim circumstances; she still felt a sense of gratitude towards Rudrapratap for taking her in and providing for her in a certain sense. She was conflicted however, Rudrapratap’s image had been tarnished in her perceptions through is tyrannical actions in the past and Naren’s descriptions of his father’s temperament. She wasn’t sure whether she was thankful towards him or despised him.
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A week after the funeral Rudrapratap summons Anamika to his chambers. He tells her that he has summoned her because a matter of the utmost importance needed to be carried out. He emphasizes that the elections are coming. He tells her that defeating the opposing party is of momentous significance. Rudrapratap in his oratory grandeur explains his obligation to carry forward his son’s dreams of a better future. Anamika is stunned by the bizarre personality that Rudrapratap seems to be channelling; one that is in direct conflict with his own. He tells her how important it is for him to take his son’s place in the election and win the seat in the government. He tells her how the Bramins are already in aversion to his authority because he allowed Naren to marry below his caste as well as for him to bring the “sarkar” into Shantipur in the first place. He tells her how he needs her to stand by him for the election. He tells her how the majorities, the voting class hero-worship her for transcending the class barrier. For standing by Naren’s ideals and inspiring him to go forward. He tells her that they have a sure- shot chance at bringing Naren’s utopia to life.
Anamika is enamoured by Rudrapratap’s sincerity. His eloquence appeals to Anamika’s feelings of subjugation and injustice. She finds it astounding how he was able to put her abstract feelings into such profound words and deliver them with such zeal. Such passion. Still torn by Rudrapratap’s past that looms in the back of her mind, Anamika reluctantly agrees, allowing herself to be swayed by Rudrapratap’s theatrics.
In preparations for the elections, it is self evident that Rudrapratap uses Anamika’s image to garner sympathy from his vote bank. He projects himself to be sensitive to his lower caste widowed daughter in law. A lot of the citizens also looked up to Anamika as a sort of legend who was able to transcend the deeply ingrained, oppressive caste system. Anamika is paraded around for press conferences, she stands strong and commands respect in her demeanour. Rudrapratap encourages her to play the victim. He manages to convince her that an image of weakness would work better to propagate Naren’s ideas further than an image of strength. Even though this goes against Anamika’s grain, she feels so isolated and out of place that she complies.
Days pass until the result of the election is announced. Rudrapratap wins by a landslide against his socialist inclined opposition. There is a celebratory air in Shantipur, as festivities ranging for all castes and age group are underway. Drunks roam the streets, slurring about independence and equality. Of the dawn of a new age. Children binge on sweets and confectionaries. Mothers and wives reminisce about how far they’ve come from such a dark and bleak past. As the festivities peak a sudden outburst grabs the attention of the procession taking place in the centre of the town outside the palace.
A sea of Brahmins have interloped the celebration in protest. The fundamentalist slogans they chant accuse Rudrapratap of heresy, abomination, blasphemy etc. The seemed truly enraged by this display of perceived sin. The congregation is dispersed by the Royal guards and the celebration continues as though there had never been an interruption.
That night, as Anamika lay in her lone chamber, reflecting and contemplating of the future to come a loud thud erupted as the doors of her chamber swung open. At the door, a drunken Rudrapratap stood, with an intense look in his eye. His stupor was a result of the copious amounts of alcohol he had consumed during the celebration of his victory. Wordless he approaches Anamika, who is stupefied by this foreshadowing of the horror to come.
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As Rudrapratap overpowers her, Anamika can taste the ethyl odour from Rudrapratap’s mouth. Her body stiffens in defence, as he greedily pries his way through her appendages. To Anamika, the whole situation is surreal, has a dreamlike feel; nightmarish really. Frozen solid, Rudrapratap inserted himself, each breath a violation. She was caught so off guard that experienced the whole ordeal as an observer in the third person, floating in the periphery of the chamber. Once Rudrapratap was finished, he held not in an embrace of lovers; but one of power, dominance, control. As he caresses Animka’s hair, Rudrapratap whispers in the twisted malevolence that only the truly wicked could channel. He revealed that he had his own son Naren assassinated, and made to give the illusion of a road accident. He had formed a secret society with the Brahmins in order to create illusions and to maintain the patriarchal caste hierarchy in Shantipur. While Rudrapratap gave the illusion of complete resolve to the welfare of the people, letting them believe that his eyes had been opened to the truth by his son’s humanity; the Brahmins staged protests to avoid arousing suspicion of conspiracy. Rudrapratap and his council of Brahmins had calculated every event, every moment meticulously.
Jolted by the sudden revelation, Anamika fell into a void. She fought intense feelings of self pity, trying to orient herself to the new reality that had just unfolded before her. The hint of suspicion in the background of her mind had turned out to be intuition in disguise.
***
Semi incestuous copulation had been taking place in the palace for generations. It was the elephant in the room. The rumour even had it that Rudrapratap’s half-wit brother, born with an additional chromosome; was a product of direct incest.
As it would ordinarily be, the weaker residents involved in this depraved practice were subject to a great deal of manipulation and control. The residents of the palace played implicit games of sexual politics that remained behind the seams; never mentioned directly or acknowledged publicly.
Anamika was at the lowest ranks. She was in utter despair, being raped constantly by the top levels of the patriarchy because she was “fresh meat” and due to her attractiveness. She was in utter despair, devastation. The women resented her, aware of their husband’s nocturnal activities. She was made to perform the most demeaning chores. She was constantly undermined. Her spirit dwindled. Until, one day she realized the power that she held over the women. She could extract her revenge and establish her dominance, enforce her manipulation over the women of the household. More importantly, over them men of the household.
A mark or a bruise placed just right on the neck was subtle enough to get noticed. Ripped clothes, stained bedsheets. The way she moved her hips, her fierce stare, the enchanting manner in which she arched her back; just enough to get a neck to turn; to impulsively, without restraint, helplessly look in her direction and admire her brazen sexuality. All this was an abundance of gossip fodder now processed and circulating at staggering speeds behind the seams of the palace. Anamika knew just what detail to manipulate so that someone notices and talks about someone’s husband’s escapades; and the news reaches his wife. She knew just what to do, how to tease, what to hold above a man to get him to do just about anything for her. Some say men would have killed for coitus with her.
Anamika created havoc in the palace. Conflicts arose out of thin air; she pitted brothers against each other, husbands against wives and vice versa, inferiors against superiors and vice versa; her own
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55 16 breed of anarchy. She alone was playing mind games with an entire order, an entire empire. Ironically, this made her irresistible to men, falling to their knees. Ironically, the women who had been oppressed by these men for generations despised her for it. She had singlehandedly flipped the entire power structure of the palace on its head.
***
It took Rudrapratap what seemed to Anamika like aeons to realize what she was upto. The whole palace was caught up in Anamika’s mind games that none of them even stopped to think. Thoroughly enjoying herself, Anamika’s games went beyond retribution. Now Anamika created conflict for her own amusement, she felt invincible... God complex.
But when Rudrapratap finally came to clarity, her world came crashing, tumbling down as he confronted her with a rage so utterly demonic. He sends her somewhere where she will have no hope, no escape.. The bleakest future.
Fighting back the regret, self pity and self loathing, Anamika looks outside the window of the brothel. It is here that she sees where intoxication with power brings an individual. She understands now, that power makes one lose sight of reason. At this moment, she has an understanding behind Rudrapratap’s actions. She understands, that the motivation behind Rudrapratap’s action stems from insecurity of his. But the fleeting moment of sympathy Anamika had for Rudrapratap has passed. She again begins to despise this weak man’s abuse of power. She dreams of revenge, keeps the hope within her alive, for that is all she has left of herself.
****
Brothel life seemed to become increasingly grave every day. Anamika’s clients seemed to get a shade darker depraved as time went on. The bleakness dried the hope she had to one day return to Shantipur and deliver Rudrapratap to judgement... Redemption; until she hung onto the last strings, some giving way, others’ slipping out of her fingers.
****
On a strange and ominous night, Anamika heard muffled footsteps in the dead of the night. She had just finished up with her client, and was hoping to catch a wink of sleep until the next depraved lunatic made his appearance. The footsteps did not disturb her. Having gone through what she did in the past few months, she had let go of her fear of danger; she now welcomed it with open arms.
Crashing furniture, the heavy thuds that came from behind the door seemed to Anamika as salvation. Finally death, she wondered to herself.. Finally escape. A loud thudd, and Anamika knew that was the overweight Madame of the brothel. The thud with the sharp sound of the multitude of amulets that she wore gave it away.
As Anamika emerged from her room, she looked around at what seemed to be an army. They were all dressed in camouflage, but not like a uniform, their attire was not heterogeneous. They looked more like a militia. The Madame and Pimps were on the floor, and it appeared that all the prostitutes were being liberated.
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The leader of the militia noticed Anamika’s stunned face, he walked to her cold and stoic. Face to face, he smiles at Anamika and hands her something. Looking at the palm of her hand, enclosed is a pendant of the Goddess Kali, a symbol of power of femininity.
*****
Deep in the forest, Anamika finds herself at the camp of this militia. She had no recollection of how she got there. The whole experience had been a surrealistic oblivion. Like a drunken dream. She is approached by the leader of the militia who introduces himself as Uday Singh. He tells her he sees a fire in her eyes. She asks him what the army is for, and he reveals to her his singular purpose. To bring the caste system of oppression to its knees and to strike the final death blow. Abolishing oppression, to establish equality.
Anamika tells him her entire story, from the Gypsy village outside Shantipur, to the palace and finally how she was ultimately exiled to the brothel. Uday Singh has a baffled expression on his face. To Anamika it seems as though his mind is making spontaneous journeys, bending and contorting the very fabric of time. He begins to narrate his own experiences with Shantipur:
When Rudrapratap was younger and his father was in power, Uday Singh and Rudrapratap planned to overthrow Narendrapratap and change the face of Shantipur. They wanted to evolve it. Rudrapratap thought his father to be a fool. Uday Singh had grown fascinated with the ideas expressed by Karl Marx and was the one who intellectually and ideologically spearheaded the revolution he and Rudrapratap would bring. The first time Uday Singh began to fear Rudrapratap was how he dealt with his own father. He had him assassinated. That was the first sign that Uday Singh ignored. As Rudrapratap became more and more tyrannical he began ostracizing those form oppositional ideologies into the forest. Uday Singh himself had become a threat to Rudrapratap, his socialist ideology was in conflict with Rudrapratap’s totalitarianism. Having established his own order, and in no need of Uday Singh to appeal to the ideals of the people, Rudrapratap saw him as a threat and had him exiled to the forest.
It is in the forest that this naxal movement began, Uday Singh explained to Anamika. All those silenced by Rudrapratap and sent to isolation had managed to locate each other in the depths of the forest and had created a movement. They had been plotting to overthrow Rudrapratap’s oppression over Shantipur for years. Anamika offered that she had valuable information to aid the process. Over time in the palace, she had reconnaissance intelligence over the palace. She explains on a sheet of paper the various entrances to the palace, the rotation of the guards around the exterior of the palace. She drew a model of the inside of the palace. She navigated every room of the palace.
Over the next few months, the naxals with Anamika forge an elaborate strategy for infiltrating the palace and slaying Rudrapratap. Simultaneously, utilizing Anamika’s skills from the circus of the gypsy community; she was trained as a deadly assassin.
****
Dark ominous clouds loom over the palace in Shantipur in the dead of the night. A profound stillness indicative of deep slumber is omnipresent. The strategy that the naxals had prepared unfolds itself with absolute synergy with the plans on paper. Silent and deadly, the naxal assassins, Anamika included; kill the members of the household in silence that would make the deadliest predator envious.
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A loud crash due to the ceramic crash of a ceramic jug suddenly sounds an alarm as guards in the large numbers enter the palace, ready to hunt the interlopers. An indoor war ensues.
Rudrapratap is locked in his chamber with two of his most trusted guard. He paces back and forth in his panic room, contemplating his next move. He hears a swift movement, a swift breeze created by sharp projectiles cutting through the air. He turns to find both his guards, dead as the night in a pool of blood with a knife embedded in each guard’s trachea.
A panic stricken Rudrapratap has turned into the victim for the first time in his life. He pleads for sympathy, almost reduced to tears. From the shadows, Anamika’s voice ridicules him for his cowardice. The irony makes her chuckle softly. She emerges from the shadows, armed with a cleaver/ sickle like blade. The blade is about six inches long. The atmosphere is eerily reminiscent of the night Rudrapratap first raped Anamika. The roles however, had been reversed. The moment is heart-warming, one of closure, completion, finality, absolution....
And just as boundries started to dissolve into the beautiful rapture of the moment, the deliverance of karma.. Reality comes back, crashing hard. Rudrapratap looks down to see his guts unravel to the floor, making a mess of viscera and blood on the beautiful carpet. And then – crash. His decapitated head falls by his intestines; his eyes open in terror. His body follows, blood gushing out of his neck.. his heart still pumping.
With her hair blowing in the wind, Anamika stands at the window of Rudrapratap’s chamber. The dawn breaks over the landscape of Shantipur behind her...
The End.
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9DEEPAK) Bio BHALLAs of- Postgraduate Key Personnel in finance and international marketing. More than two decades of experience as head of operations and general management. Experienced in starting up and running media related companies producing films, ad commercials and television serials.
KALPANA LAJMI - Kalpana Lajmi debuted as an assistant director under the veteran film director Shyam Benegal. She later went on to work as an assistant costume designer in Shyam Benegal's Bhumika. She made her directorial début with the documentary film, D.G. Movie Pioneer in 1978 and went on to direct more documentaries like A Work Study in Tea Plucking (1979) and Along the Brahmaputra (1981). She debuted as a feature film director in 1986 with Ek Pal (A Moment), starring Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah. She then took a break from directing movies and went to direct her first television serial Lohit Kinare (1988). She made her comeback to cinema in 1993 with the critically acclaimed Rudaali starring Dimple Kapadia. Kapadia won the National Film Award for her performance and Lajmi also won accolades for directing the film. Her next film was Darmiyaan (1997) which was directed and produced by her. The movie starred Kirron Kher and Tabu in pivotal & influential roles. In 2001, she directed DAMAN. The film was distributed by the Government of India and was highly acclaimed by critics. It was the second time that an actress won the National Film Award under Lajmi's direction. This time it was Raveena Tandon, who was not as appreciated before, and Lajmi was credited as being the one to exploit the hidden talent in her. Kalpana’s next film was Kyon? (2003) and her last film was Chingari in 2006 that starred Sushmita Sen as a village prostitute.
VINTA NANDA - Vinta is amongst the pioneers of Indian Television with the trailblazing Tara on Zee TV which dominated Indian households from 1992 to 1997 and has produced over 16 long running prime time serials across various leading Indian channels, the last one being Miilee for Star Plus. She was Director Ideation for Zee Network between 2000 - 2002 heading content strategy for sixteen channels of different genre's and different languages. Vinta also wrote and directed the feature White Noise, starring Rahul Bose and Koel Purie which achieved critical acclaim at various international film festivals. She has been a regular columnist in India’s leading publications and was also the curator for the film section for the Kala Ghoda Festival for Arts in the years 2010, 2011. Vinta has also produced and directed many documentaries on women’s and socio political issues.
AUGUSTINE VELIATH - A professional with 40 years’ experience as communication strategist, writer, publisher and mentor, Augustine has been an international civil servant with 23 years of experience as a UNICEF Communication Specialist. He has been a Media Advisor to the Government of India, publications manager and journalist for South Asia’s leading voice on fifth quintile listening and harvesting conversations. A passionate advocate on child rights who has contributed to and lead many UNICEF movements including child survival revolution, child rights movement, global movement for children, universal immunization program. He has a great track record in mobilizing and working with young people, an imaginative writer and publisher and a convincing and persuasive speaker and presenter. Augustine is particularly effective in mobilizing political leaders, media, civil society and NGOs, Advocacy range includes the Capitol Hill and panchayat members in Bihar and U.P. Adept at spotting advocacy opportunities and expert at framing advocacy issues. He has also worked in the most challenging states of India (UP, Bihar, MP, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand) for long spells.
SHIV BHALLA - Shiv graduated with an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma in higher level English literature and language; and higher level psychology and wrote an extended essay on “The evidence of Bob Dylan’s disillusionment with society in his works”. He is a musician, and aspiring to be a novelist and independent filmmaker. Shiv has experience as an assistant director on two documentary films, The Dress, and Maximum City. He also has a year’s experience working as a creative writer and in ideation, 2013 Copyright ACEE - The Third Eye and HH&S
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59 20 developing content for television and film at Toucan Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. He is currently pursuing a Bachelors’ degree in the Arts and working as the Associate Writer for the film SAFED DOLI, and writing the script for the crime series DOHRA, which is under development at Toucan Entertainment.
PRATIK PUNJABI - Pratik Punjabi has a year's experience in concept creation and script writing at Toucan Entertainment. He has been trained under the guidance of the film maker, Vinta Nanda and also trained under Divya Radhakrishnan to strategize content across genres in television. Pratik has created several original concepts such as Chicken Do Pyaara and Song of India which are at the pre-production stage. Pratik is currently working on the screenplay for the film Magic, and is part of the creative team of ACEE- The Third Eye, developing projects like MADAT and SAPNA.
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ACEE - The Third Eye HH&S
Sapna Project Plan July 2013
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Disclaimer:
The information contained in this project plan is confidential and proprietary to ACEE – The Third Eye (the Organization) and is intended only for the persons to whom it is transmitted by the organization or its representatives. Any reproduction of this document, in whole or in part, or the divulgence of any of its content without prior written consent of the organization, is prohibited.
Each potential business partner specifically understands and agrees that any estimates, projections, revenue models, forecasts or assumptions are by definition uncertain and thus possibly unreliable. Any party considering a transaction with ACEE – The Third Eye agrees to looks solely to its own diligence.
For more information please contact:
Vinta Nanda – Director – ACEE – The Third Eye
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +91 98200 40680
Office: +91 22 652 66620
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Contents1) Specifications 4 2) Brief Synopsis 5 3) Concept 6 4) Specific Priority Health Topics Addressed 7 5) Specific ways/plots through which topics are compellingly addressed 7 6) Brief engagement strategy for priority topics 7 7) Impact and Realization of Priority topics 8 8) Story 9 9) Bios of Key Personnel 13 10) PowerPoint presentation (attached as an annexure)
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TITLE1) Specifications- SAPNA Genre/Format -Drama/ Soap Opera
Running time - 22 minutes per episode
No. of Episodes - 208
Approximate budget in USD - $28,000 per episode
NAMES AND ROLES OF KEY PERSONNEL ATTACHED
Co-Production - ACEE - The Third Eye & Beyond Entertainment Tracks Pvt Ltd
Producers - Vinta Nanda, Deepak Bhalla and Salim Asgarally
Executive Producers - Hollywood, Health and Society
Content Strategy - Nirav Vaidya and Chris Dzialo
Director - TBD
Story Editors - Vinta Nanda and Carol Barbee
Writers - Vinta Nanda & Pratik Punjabi
Creative Director - TBD
Creative Team - Shiv Bhalla, Pratik Punjabi
Creative Administration - Shilpa Jain and Hans Kapadia
Story/ Screenplay - TBD
Dialogue writers - TBD
LOG LINE
Sapna is the story of a woman’s emergence from poverty to her transcendence into success against unfavourable odds and challenges.
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Born2) into poverty,Brief Sapna was Synopsis the sister who sacrificed for her brother upon whom the most paltry amounts earned by her father for their upbringing was invested, as it was considered that he, being the son, would look after her parents when they grew old. When she was married Sapna was too young but became the mother of two daughters, one after another, ostracized because of the social stigma attached to the girl child. Having lost her husband to a fatal accident at the age of 20, she was disowned by both her in laws as well as her own kin, as she was an extra mouth to feed. Uneducated, she was left with nowhere to go. Wandering in the deserts with two young mouths to feed, she wished she would die, but God had other plans.
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3)Sapna is Thea television Concept series of 208 episodes, designed to make compelling viewing for audiences from all walks of life in India, where gender equality is yet to be achieved especially amongst aspiring masses because it is misunderstood and misrepresented by the upper crust here, which otherwise generally leads the way in other developed and developing nations. In a country that cuts across various religions, languages and traditions, fiction has been and will remain a way to direct behaviours and attitudes which lead to better practices and a deeper understanding of values. India particularly has, due to its huge population belonging to many different cultures, battled for a long time with the necessity to weed out hypocrisy from its social embroideries so that it can find a way in which the concept of morality does not blur the idea of values.
The gender ratio is alarming and biases are evident in the number of girls born in comparison to boys in India every year. While various governmental programs and policies are targeted to fight the evil, results are not encouraging and the gap in the ratio is only increasing. This is because of a deep rooted fear that exists amongst the people of India, which is, that girls are a burden and a liability, whereas boys are a blessing. Indian cultures and value systems are not evolving at the same pace as India’s economic growth, therefore redundant social practices prevail in a fast developing globalized world, which hold the poor of India back from making progress at speed with the times, thus stalling an organic social growth in present circumstances and inadvertently providing the space, to its largely uneducated and not so well informed masses, for barbaric practices to get rid of a girl child after an illegal sex determination test of a foetus during early/mid pregnancy or within seconds after her birth.
It is widely believed that entertainment is the most effective vehicle for communication which drives change but it has seldom been possible to detect a social pulse and address it through the medium seamlessly. This is because of market reality and compulsion, which stands accountable towards ‘ratings’ but fails at being responsible towards the people that comprise them.
While many attempts have been made to set stage for popular shows with an entertainment-education slant, mainstreaming of such programs has eluded the flow because of various reasons like politics of sectarianism, inadequate research mechanisms which understand plurality and the lack of will.
However, it is time now, to cut through obstacles and create the fiction which entertains through the popular lens and intends to drive change by finding solutions through its narratives for the cultural confuse which plagues India.
A popular show which is successful is one which cuts across all demographics and can achieve critical acclaim in the same breath as in which it laps up popularity.
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4) ImportanceSpecific of vaccinationsPriority—especially Healthcontinuing Topics to vaccinate Addressed one’s children against polio (even though has been eradicated in India, vaccination is still crucial so it doesn’t come back) and vaccination against rotavirus. Maternal & Child (really infant) health—which means family planning, breastfeeding, not expressing colostrums, hand-washing, kangaroo/skin-to-skin infant care. Agriculture/nutrition—making agriculture sexy (community/family gardens, importance of proper nutrition for children, etc)
5) Specific Ways/Plots through Which
ThroughPriority/Topics Sapna’s altruism as a mother,Are Compellinglythe series opens numerous Addressed avenues to explore realistic childcare options and information for parents burdened with poverty. Left to fend for herself and her two daughters, as a slum dweller in the urban landscape of Mumbai; Sapna is compelled to deal with issues related to sanitation, clean drinking water and nutrition. The issue of communal harmony is addressed when Sapna finds herself in the metropolitan slums of urban Mumbai.
6) Brief Engagement Strategy for Priority
WebsiteTopics offers relevant links to information and NGO’s. A mobile application will be developed for interactivity on key women’s health, legal and education issues. There will be audience engagement through a network of NGO’s. Sapna will visit communities to address key health and social issues plaguing that particular community and also host a weekend talk show for women. A 30 second PSA addressing the priority issues at the end of every episode.
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7)a. Target audience:Impact and Realization of Priority Topics b. Primary - Women: Since the show is about Women empowerment. c. Secondary – Men: Important to make the impact among men to get their empathy and support for women facing this ordeal d. Age group 18 years and above: Will inspire women on the threshold of the various stages of Sapna as depicted in the show e. Socio economic segment of C/D/E: Aspirational angle of the show will appeal to those climbing up the Socio economic ladder as the primary audience. SEC A/B will comprise of secondary audience for a riveting storytelling, a certain empathy with Sapna, whose distress they share, but cloak with elitism, and hide. f. North and Western parts of India: Since the show will be on a Hindi TV channel g. Specific Call to Action:
Viewers are expected to be inspired by the various milestones achieved by Sapna as a young mother, as a late college goer, as an entrepreneur, as a fighter for justice.
However the specific call to action will be for women to understand the benefits of family planning and education
h. Success measurement:
1. Uptake in requests for information and contraceptives to partner family planning NGOs. 2. Enrolment in adult education programmes
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8)
Written By: Vinta SapnaNanda & Pratik Punjabi A dream that survived reality In 1961, in the remote village ofThe Bundi, on the driest Story day of summer, a woman in labour is tended to by an old midwife with steady hands. Surrounded by a series of colourful tapestries, in the center lies Sheila, giving birth to her first child. Through her subdued shriek a faint cry of a new born baby can be heard. The mid wife rushes out of the room leaving the baby in the hands of her assistant. Sheila in a state of befuddled fatigue fails to register this behaviour. Longing to hold her baby she eyes her child whose supple body is being wrapped in cloth. The mid wife enters the room with a man. Gathering her draining strength she focuses on the outline in front of her and sees her husband Satish Kumar. Giving condemning glances to both the mother and the child he walks out of the room. The mid wife with a cadaverous look on her face pulls out an ominous black pouch from her blouse. It is then that Sheila realizes what has happened. Shrieking with a pang of disapproval she snatches her baby out of the assistant’s hands. The mid wife tries to tranquilize her with calming words but Sheila cannot let this happen. She pulls herself up and stumbles out after her husband with tears streaming down her face. Satish is taken back at the site of Sheila in her soiled gown with the baby crying in her hands. She falls at his feet and pleads with Satish to let her live. “This is our first child, a symbol of our union. Do not let them kill her.” Satish was perturbed at the site of her and takes her back to the birthing room. Satish takes the baby from her arms, looks up at Sheila and after a prolonged silence tells her, “Here on forth, you will only bear me sons” and hands over the baby to the midwife. Having prevailed through this ordeal with her daughter made Sheila delirious yet the ecstasy was overcome by the fatigue gripping her body and as her mind drifted into a deep slumber, the single thought that stayed in her mind was that her dream was alive and not manipulated into a nightmare. A dream she was, Sapna.
When she turned four, Sapna was allowed to go to school as this rid her mother the burden of having to care for her and use the free time to work at Satish’s store. There Sheila would work with leather, crafting beautiful slippers. Sapna found school exciting, having the opportunity to mingle with other kids her age, as she was not allowed to play outside the house. Her mother was gentle and loving but always predisposed with some chore. Her father she realized over the years did not like her or her mother except for when Sheila’s belly grew big. When alone with her mother she was told she would soon have a new brother. But as time would pass her mother would soon become thin again and when inquired about her brother, Sheila would have a tearful smile on her face and assure her that it would be soon.
When she was six, she finally had a baby brother. And this seemed to keep her father on a perpetual high. He would no longer get angry at her mother. Her mother was allowed to rest and
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recuperate and this made her seem healthier than ever. Her baby brother, Sunil, he was so small and tender. Sapna would spend all her free time grooming, feeding and cleaning up after Sunil. Everyone in her family was happy. As her brother grew older Sapna realized that being a girl she was not treated the same. The same opportunities were not made available to Sunil and her both. She had many restrictions and this being the norm of the village she never considered questioning it. As Sunil joined school, Sapna spent her time bringing him up to speed on his academic work. Sunil enjoyed being the apple of his father’s eye but loved his sister the most. Soon Sheila began working at the store again Sapna found herself nursing Sunil in her free time. In the process of helping Sunil study Sapna realized that Sunil found it rather hard to read. She experimented with her style of teaching to make it apt for Sunil and through trial and error she was finally able to make Sunil cope up with his basic courses.
Sapna made a few more observation as she was growing older. Sheila had suffered two stillbirths and these took a toll on her physical and mental health. Sapna realized her mother was only a shell of her old self. She had lost her voice and at times cried when she thought she was alone. Sapna realized that her unborn sisters were in fact murdered. And this caused a storm of emotions in her. She wanted to punish those responsible but her mother bound her to an oath of silence. Sapna decided that she would never have anyone else put through this.
Sapna on the other hand was faring well through school. She was the youngest student in the final grade and the village professor suggested she attend high school at the village of Kota. When Professor Ajit Tripathi approached Sapna’s father with this suggestion he was sent away. Satish scrapped the idea insisting women need not be educated.
As Sapna hit puberty her mother told her it was time they found her a suitable boy, who would be nice enough to not insist on a dowry. They soon found a young man named Pankaj who had recently started his new venture as a sweet shop owner. Despite a humble nature Pankaj could not resist himself a handsome dowry.
At the same time Niharika, Sapna’s cousin was being married off to a wealthy 60 year old widower. Her parents, Prachi and Jindal, found this to be a fairly easy decision as in lieu of paying a dowry they were given an acre of agricultural land. Niharika was not allowed to voice her opinion in the matter and sent off in an expeditious betrothal. The rumour was the old man, Jayantilal, who had four sons by his first two wives, was inflicted with a toxic demeanor and his wives had suffered unseemly deaths. The week they married Jayantilal died due to a cardiac arrest. And Niharika was sent off to the holy city of Varanasi under the pretext of having to serve lord Krishna in his temple as his devotee for the rest of her life.
In her second year of marriage Sapna gave birth to her first daughter Ritu. By then the idea of child infanticide was too dangerous to consider due to the new laws passed by the local governing body. They were pressured into it by the state officials of Rajasthan. Pankaj and Sapna were loving parents to Ritu. Though Sapna’s mother-in-law did not hesitate questioning her ability to bear them an heir, a girl would just not suffice. Sapna paid no heed to this and continued nurturing Ritu, providing her the best she could. At times she had to quarrel with Pankaj over Ritu’s future. Sapna had made it her mission to provide Ritu the education she was so unjustly deprived of. When Sapna was pregnant for the second time, her in laws took drastic steps to ensure the child was a boy. They prayed to the gods of fertility and went to the extent of arranging animal sacrifice 2013 Copyright ACEE - The Third Eye and HH&S
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to detect the sex of the unborn child. Sapna gave birth to a second daughter and her family condemned her as an omen of ill luck, and some even claimed she inherited it from her mother.
The additional burden to provide for a second child while educating Ritu was too much for Pankaj and he suggested Ritu quit school. Sapna took on the onus of getting her girls educated and thus began her experiment with stitching clothes. In the beginning she faced opposition from her family and the society as it was not apt for women to work out of the house. But a result of her low prices made some women of the village chose her to get their clothes stitched. She soon made sufficient money to support her daughter’s expenditures. Pankaj was pressured by his parents to have another child and trying to live up to their expectation he urges Sapna to try again.
Sapna realized they could not afford another child. She approached the lady doctor in the local hospital for help and was introduced to birth control pills. Sapna let Pankaj think everything was normal and she may conceive soon. After a year of failed attempts Pankaj suggested they visit a doctor. Buckling under interrogation Sapna revealed to Pankaj she was on birth control and this infuriated him to such an extent, he cut all ties with her. He threw Sapna and her daughters out and claimed he would never forgive her. Moving back in with her parents was not an option. She could not bear the thought, to burden her parents with three additional mouths to feed.
Her younger brother Sunil, who now lived in Mumbai, was someone she could consider living with. Sheila insisted that Sunil could afford to take care of Sapna and her children and she should go there. Sunil had worked hard in school and won himself a scholarship at University of Mumbai. Despite his dyslexia he studied long and hard and was recruited by one of the leading management firms in Mumbai. In a span of a year, he asked his parents’ permission to get married to a girl named Mansi from Meerut. She was his colleague and the two of them had fallen in love in the dream city of Mumbai. The fact that her arrival was accompanied by a large dowry was a bonus. On Sapna’s arrival Sunil was ecstatic and the family ventured out to explore the city of Mumbai together.
Sapna was overwhelmed by the metropolis and wondered how so many lives were living together in such synchronicity. Simultaneously occurring lives lived so closely together, so intimate in its entirety yet so varied. She sent the girls, Ritu and Ragini who were now 8 and 4 to a new school in the proximity of Sunil’s humble residence. Sapna’s urge to be self sufficient was quashed as she lacked the basic education to acquire a job. She contributed by doing the domestic chores and helping Mansi clean up. Soon Mansi’s behaviour became imperious and she considered Sapna her new maid. Sapna was hurt at the insults dished out by his beloved brother’s wife. Sunil did not express any concern and let Sapna’s nightmare continue.
Sapna soon received news that Pankaj had married again. This created a void in her mind, as thoughts of guilt, betrayal and finally loneliness crept into her bones; for lying to Pankaj was her only mistake slowly but a part of her had believed she would be forgiven. When Mansi refused to pay the school fees for the girls’ education, Sapna politely asked Sunil for a little money so that she could purchase a sewing machine and support the kids. This notion offended Sunil’s ego as he felt Sapna was questioning his hospitality. He gave her the money but asked her to move out in a week’s time. Sapna’s thoughts were in a state of limbo, afraid of the fact that she no more had a home but was glad at being rid of Mansi’s tirades. While falling through a dark hole of despair her 2013 Copyright ACEE - The Third Eye and HH&S
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actions kept her going forward. She sold the few pieces of jewellery she had and rented out a little shanty of her own.
Here she met an array of personalities. She had encounters with the local thugs who through the illusion of power satiated their lust and greed. Sapna came across people too poor to live and too afraid to die. Men and women, who pushed themselves to their limits day after day in their struggle for survival. She found a few local women very supportive who helped her settle in. Despite constant doubts, Sapna put up a façade of bravado. In an altercation at the ration store she meets Asma, who insists Sapna should work for her husband Salim Master who is a local tailor.
On inspecting her work Salim agrees to let her help with any assignments too big for his team of tailors to handle. An upcoming designer, Tariq set for his first ever fashion week gives a bulk order to Salim Master. As the workload is too big for Salim’s factory he outsources many pieces from Sapna. Through just looking at the other tailor’s work she understands the requirements and hands out some fine products to Salim. Tariq impresses the fashion world and with his rise in fame increases the workload of Sapna and Salim. Sapna can finally send the girls back to school. Sapna insists that Asma get her young daughter educated when she is old enough for school.
Having faced the harshest realities of life made Sapna very understanding with others and she always did her part in helping ones in need. She started training two girls Laxmi and Vandana as she purchased another sewing machine. She lacked the efficiency of a trained business mind but her basic understanding of things helped her make the right decisions. She learnt a lot about the business from Salim and under his guidance was able to grow her company.
Through media frenzy, Sapna learnt that the widows of the sacred city of Varanasi were in fact being trafficked into prostitution. The news showed the dilapidated conditions the women were housed in and exposed the architects of this entire operation. Sapna with her daughters travelled to Varanasi to find her sister Niharika. They try to trace her whereabouts but the number of abandoned prostitutes in the city right now was astounding. The local police were incapacitated and the deed seemed insurmountable. Having lost all hope, Sapna returns to Mumbai.
Today Ritu is a lawyer fresh out of law school, working with a charitable organization helping women seek justice in the court of law. Ragini is joining college and is surprised to see her mother enrolling in the same institute. Though at first she finds this embarrassing, Ragini evolves her mind to accept this and enjoys competing throughout college with her mother.
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VINTA NANDA - Vinta is amongst the pioneers of Indian Television with the trailblazing Tara on Zee TV which9) dominatedBio Indians of households Key Personnel from 1992 to 1997 and has produced over 16 long running prime time serials across various leading Indian channels, the last one being Millee for Star Plus. She was Director Ideation for Zee Network between 2000 - 2002 heading content strategy for sixteen channels of different genre's and different languages. Vinta also wrote and directed the feature White Noise, starring Rahul Bose and Koel Purie which achieved critical acclaim at various international film festivals. She has been a regular columnist in India’s leading publications and was also the curator for the film section for the Kala Ghoda Festival for Arts in the years 2010, 2011. Vinta has also produced and directed many documentaries on women’s and socio political issues.
AUGUSTINE VELIATH - A professional with 40 years’ experience as communication strategist, writer, publisher and mentor, Augustine has been an international civil servant with 23 years of experience as a UNICEF Communication Specialist. He has been a Media Advisor to the Government of India, publications manager and journalist for South Asia’s leading voice on fifth quintile listening and harvesting conversations. A passionate advocate on child rights who has contributed to and lead many UNICEF movements including child survival revolution, child rights movement, global movement for children, universal immunization program. He has a great track record in mobilizing and working with young people, an imaginative writer and publisher and a convincing and persuasive speaker and presenter. Augustine is particularly effective in mobilizing political leaders, media, civil society and NGOs, Advocacy range includes the Capitol Hill and panchayat members in Bihar and U.P. Adept at spotting advocacy opportunities and expert at framing advocacy issues. He has also worked in the most challenging states of India (UP, Bihar, MP, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand) for long spells.
SHIV BHALLA - Shiv graduated with an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma in higher level English literature and language; and higher level psychology and wrote an extended essay on “The evidence of Bob Dylan’s disillusionment with society in his works”. He is a musician, and aspiring to be a novelist and independent filmmaker. Shiv has experience as an assistant director on two documentary films, The Dress, and Maximum City. He also has a year’s experience working as a creative writer and in ideation, developing content for television and film at Toucan Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. He is currently pursuing a Bachelors’ degree in the Arts and working as the Associate Writer for the film SAFED DOLI, and writing the script for the crime series DOHRA, which is under development at Toucan Entertainment.
PRATIK PUNJABI - Pratik Punjabi had his first experience in concept creation and script writing at Toucan Entertainment. Has trained under the guidance of film maker, Vinta Nanda and also trained under Divya Radhakrishnan to strategize content across genres in television. Pratik has created several original concepts like Chicken Do Pyaara and Song of India. Pratik is currently working on the screenplay for the films Magic and Breathless, and is also a part of the creative team at ACEE-The Third Eye, developing MADAT and writing the current drafts of SAPNA.
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ACEE - The Third Eye
Madat HH&S Project Plan July 2013
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Disclaimer:
The information contained in this project plan is confidential and proprietary to ACEE – The Third Eye (the Organization) and is intended only for the persons to whom it is transmitted by the organization or its representatives. Any reproduction of this document, in whole or in part, or the divulgence of any of its content without prior written consent of the organization, is prohibited.
Each potential business partner specifically understands and agrees that any estimates, projections, revenue models, forecasts or assumptions are by definition uncertain and thus possibly unreliable. Any party considering a transaction with ACEE – The Third Eye agrees to looks solely to its own diligence.
For more information please contact:
Vinta Nanda – Director – ACEE – The Third Eye
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +91 98200 40680
Office: +91 22 652 66620
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Contents1) Specifications 4 2) Brief Synopsis 5 3) Concept 6 4) Format 7 5) Specific Priority Health Topics Addressed 8 6) Specific ways/plots through which priorities/topics are addressed 8 7) Brief engagement strategy for priority topics 8 8) Impact and Realization of priority topics 9 9) Bio of Key Personnel 10 10) PowerPoint presentation (attached as an annexure)
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Title1) Specifications - MADAT
Genre/Format - Talk Show/Reality
Running Time - 44 minutes per episode
No. of Episodes - 13 per season annually
Approximate budget in USD - $ 34,500 per episode
NAMES AND ROLES OF KEY PERSONNEL
Co-Production - ACEE-The Third Eye and MADAT Pvt Ltd
Producers - Soni Razdan & Vinta Nanda
Executive Producers - Hollywood, Health and Society
Content Strategy - Nirav Vaidya and Chris Dzialo
Director - TBD
Creative Director - TBD
Creative Administrators - Shilpa Jain and Hans Kapadia
Format Developers - Pratik Punjabi & Shiv Bhalla
Host - TBD
Panel - TBD
LOG LINE
Madat is a platform for helping women in distress and offers solutions to their problems.
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Madat2) is a trailblazingBrief show Synopsis for television, a first of its kind. It not only provides a platform for women in distress, but also attempts to solve the problem. This problem solving continues where other shows leave off. It actually provides a long term service to women in distress. The issues the women face are discussed live on TV by a panel of experts who help her to get through the next few days.
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3)Madat isThe a television Concept show what has been unprecedented in its kind, throughout the history of Indian television. It provides a platform to help women in distress. It offers the women to express themselves anonymously, in a judgement free atmosphere. They are offered counselling, guidance and rehabilitation.
What sets Madat apart is that it goes further to provide and execute workable solutions for these women in distress. It also provides a long term support system to help victims overcome their problems and be able to move on with life independently.
An expert panel consisting of a lawyer, a police officer and a psychologist will be introduced to the anonymous victim and her problem. The issue is discussed intensively as each panellist offers the victim specialist advice and solutions. The studio audience is also involved in dialogue and have the chance to offer potential solutions.
A case study of another woman in distress who was oppressed under the same circumstances as the victim will be discussed so that the victim in the studio may be able to overcome her problems like the victim in the case study did.
The next part of the process is to forward the victim to the Madat help desk, where the progress of every woman coming to the show is tracked even as the show moves on to other episodes involving different victims. Once the victim has made significantly large progress or has overcome her problem completely, she may be brought back onto the show for a brief moment to share her experiences and provide inspiration to other distressed women to seek aid from Madat.
Access to aid from Madat will be made available 24/7 through a hotline number, as well as a website that is easy to access. Madat will tie up with NGOs so that even cases that don’t make it to the television show can still avail of a support system. The website will offer links to over 3000 NGOs and public health networks associated with Madat. A call centre will also be set up. It will have to resources to deal with a heavy flow of traffic and efficiency will be prioritized so as to reach out to a maximum number of victims.
The website will also feature:
Help videos Deleted Scenes Forums Polls
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Segment 1 (example: domestic abuse)
4)FormatThe anchor introduces the entire concept of the show, while giving insights into the need for social change in our country. This may include current affairs, new legislation affecting women’s rights and statistics to keep viewers aware and active in Madat’s fight gender equality.
The anchor will then introduce the expert panel, emphasizing on the specialization of each panel member.
The next part of the segment will involve tracking the progress of previous victims of the show. So for example, if a previous caller was facing occupational exploitation by her superior at work, the show would go into how she was able to overcome her problem and seamlessly transition back into her professional life with minimal friction.
The last part of the segment would involve the anchor introducing the called to the panel and audience. The caller then highlights the problems she faces, take for example domestic abuse. The caller will reference how she faces abuse via the hands of her husband. She outlines her despair and her voicelessness.
Segment 2:
The members of the panel delve into a discussion over the caller’s problem. The discussion is mediated by the anchor. A police officer for example, would offer advice on how to involve the police to intervene with the violence and offer her an escape from her husband’s assault.
The audience will also be mediated into the discussion by the anchor.
Segment 3:
The discussion carries on slightly further.
A case study of a victim from similar circumstances as the caller is discussed. Her experience and strength offers the caller a sense of community. The lack of isolation is likely to inspire the caller to take action. The show ends on the positive note of resolve. The anchor expresses that today’s caller will be followed up with in the weeks to come and her progress will be showcased on Madat.
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5) ImportanceSpecific of vaccinations Priority—especially Healthcontinuing toTopics vaccinate one’sAddressed children against polio (even though has been eradicated in India, vaccination is still crucial so it doesn’t come back) and vaccination against rotavirus. Maternal & Child (really infant) health—which means family planning, breastfeeding, not expressing colostrums, hand-washing, kangaroo/skin-to-skin infant care. Agriculture/nutrition—making agriculture sexy (community/family gardens, importance of proper nutrition for children, etc)
6) Specific Ways/Plots through Which
The Priority/Topicsviewers will be able to vicariously Are relate Compellingly to the guest’s victimization Addressed and therefore use the solutions suggested to the panel.
A 24/7 hotline promotes interactivity. 7) A networkBrief of Ngo’sEngagement and Public Health OrganizationsStrategy hasfor been Priorityestablished. This Topics will take the message beyond the show, through interactive discussion with communities. Website offers relevant links to information and NGO’s. Each episode will contain a question asked to its viewers during the final 30 seconds of air time. Viewers can respond to this question via mobile phones or through the website.
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8)a. TargetImpact audience: and Realization of Priority Topics b. Primary - Women: Since the show is about Women empowerment. c. Secondary – Men: Important to make the impact among men to get their empathy and support for women facing this ordeal d. Age group 18 years and above: Will inspire women on the threshold of the various stages of Sapna as depicted in the show e. Socio economic segment of C/D/E: Aspirational angle of the show will appeal to those climbing up the Socio economic ladder as the primary audience. SEC A/B will comprise of secondary audience for a riveting storytelling, a certain empathy with Sapna, whose distress they share, but cloak with elitism, and hide. f. North and Western parts of India: Since the show will be on a Hindi TV channel g. Specific Call to Action:
Viewers are expected to be inspired by the various milestones achieved by Sapna as a young mother, as a late college goer, as an entrepreneur, as a fighter for justice.
However the specific call to action will be for women to understand the benefits of family planning and education
h. Success measurement:
1. Uptake in requests for information and contraceptives to partner family planning NGOs. 2. Enrolment in adult education programmes
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SONI RAZDAN BHATT – Soni Razdan is an actor, director and producer. She performs in theatre, 9presently) Bio casts ofin the Key acclaimed Personnel play “Where did I leave my parda?” She has also played key roles in popular films such as “Page 3”, “Monsoon Wedding” and “Saaransh”. Television shows, including the likes of “Buniyaad” and “Aur phir ek din” among many others. Soni Razdan was also the producer of the prime time series “Aur phir ek din”, several documentary films, and is presently co producing and directing her second untitled feature film.
VINTA NANDA - Vinta is amongst the pioneers of Indian Television with the trailblazing Tara on Zee TV which dominated Indian households from 1992 to 1997 and has produced over 16 long running prime time serials across various leading Indian channels, the last one being Millee for Star Plus. She was Director Ideation for Zee Network between 2000 - 2002 heading content strategy for sixteen channels of different genre's and different languages. Vinta also wrote and directed the feature White Noise, starring Rahul Bose and Koel Purie which achieved critical acclaim at various international film festivals. She has been a regular columnist in India’s leading publications and was also the curator for the film section for the Kala Ghoda Festival for Arts in the years 2010, 2011. Vinta has also produced and directed many documentaries on women’s and socio political issues.
AUGUSTINE VELIATH - A professional with 40 years’ experience as communication strategist, writer, publisher and mentor, Augustine has been an international civil servant with 23 years of experience as a UNICEF Communication Specialist. He has been a Media Advisor to the Government of India, publications manager and journalist for South Asia’s leading voice on fifth quintile listening and harvesting conversations. A passionate advocate on child rights who has contributed to and lead many UNICEF movements including child survival revolution, child rights movement, global movement for children, universal immunization program. He has a great track record in mobilizing and working with young people, an imaginative writer and publisher and a convincing and persuasive speaker and presenter. Augustine is particularly effective in mobilizing political leaders, media, civil society and NGOs, Advocacy range includes the Capitol Hill and panchayat members in Bihar and U.P. Adept at spotting advocacy opportunities and expert at framing advocacy issues. He has also worked in the most challenging states of India (UP, Bihar, MP, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand) for long spells.
SHIV BHALLA - Shiv graduated with an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma in higher level English literature and language; and higher level psychology and wrote an extended essay on “The evidence of Bob Dylan’s disillusionment with society in his works”. He is a musician, and aspiring to be a novelist and independent filmmaker. Shiv has experience as an assistant director on two documentary films, The Dress, and Maximum City. He also has a year’s experience working as a creative writer and in ideation, developing content for television and film at Toucan Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. He is currently pursuing a Bachelors’ degree in the Arts and working as the Associate Writer for the film SAFED DOLI, and writing the script for the crime series DOHRA, which is under development at Toucan Entertainment.
PRATIK PUNJABI - Pratik Punjabi had his first experience in concept creation and script writing at Toucan Entertainment. Has trained under the guidance of film maker, Vinta Nanda and also trained under Divya Radhakrishnan to strategize content across genres in television. Pratik has created several original concepts like Chicken Do Pyaara and Song of India. Pratik is currently working on the screenplay for the films Magic and Breathless, and is also a part of the creative team at ACEE-The Third Eye, developing MADAT and writing the current drafts of SAPNA.
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ACEE - The Third Eye StarTrek
Project Plan - Pilot September 2013
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Disclaimer:
The information contained in this project plan is confidential and proprietary to ACEE – The Third Eye (the Organization) and is intended only for the persons to whom it is transmitted by the organization or its representatives. Any reproduction of this document, in whole or in part, or the divulgence of any of its content without prior written consent of the organization, is prohibited.
Each potential business partner specifically understands and agrees that any estimates, projections, revenue models, forecasts or assumptions are by definition uncertain and thus possibly unreliable. Any party considering a transaction with ACEE – The Third Eye agrees to looks solely to its own diligence.
For more information please contact:
Vinta Nanda –Managing Director – ACEE – The Third Eye
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +91 98200 40680
Office: +91 22 652 66620
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Contents
1) Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..4 2) The Team………………….……..………………………………………………………5 3) Who we will meet…………………………………………………………………….6 4) What are their stories………………………………………………………..…….7 5) The Process………………………………………………………………………………8 6) What Star Network gains from the TREK……….………………………..10 7) Terms & Commercial………………………………………………………………11
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Introduction
ACEE The Third Eye & Star Network propose to carry out the pilot exercise of the project StarTrek which will take content leaders and creators of the different channels of Star Network on a journey to discover the rural youth and gain insights to their aspirations, true potential and thus to identify and relate them to the future of India through stories of serials.
While ACEE will contribute the creative and developmental expertise to this project, Star Network will provide access to its huge footprint among the diverse audiences of India which it captivates through its various programs. Star Network will also enable messaging or be the carrier for information about the priorities of our times, by the seeding of storylines that inspire the creative leaderships on this journey into their present and emerging works.
As a pilot project, ACEE-The Third Eye will take the creative leadership of Star Network to Latur/Chandrapur, where SPARSH is an evolving people’s institution that builds communities with equity towards empowerment to attain wellbeing, harmony, and fulfilment of basic rights by forging partnerships between and with community and government.
The main objective of StarTrek is to take the creators and leaders of Star Network to Latur/Chandrapur and inspire them through encounters with ordinary people who have overcome extraordinary CHALLENGES.
The idea is to give an impetus to the creators to bring in elements from the lives of these extraordinary young men and women whom they visit, people who have altered their circumstances to adopt best practices across many issues, into their future works.
It will motivate the creative leadership of Star Network to build on storylines within primetime television by way of which audiences who view these programs feel driven to bring similar changes in their lives be it behavioral, attitudinal or community driven.
After the tour, ACEE in partnership with HH&S, and THE MEDIA IMPACT PROJECT, USC, will track these story lines that the creators have weaved to their programs, to measure the impact- towards-action it has had on the audience, through various traditional and non-traditional methods of research and finding/s applied to the process.
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The Team
Star Network Star Network is a leading Television Network, having been in the No. 1 position in India for many years now. It has a loyal audience which trusts the network and numbers continue to grow as television expands its outreach in India. Star has also been the pioneer in the business of entertainment, to have brought in programming for change, and realizing the power of its footprint, the network has taken various initiatives across all its channels to address key social issues. The creative leadership of Star Network works across its various channels, and captivates over 50% audience from SEC C, D and E, in all age groups. A large portion of the audience share is below the age of 35 in these segments, where change is needed and is also possible by awareness created through entertainment. With a creative interjection of true stories of extraordinary people having faced huge challenges in its repertoire, Star Network can not only address various issues pertaining to the priorities of our times, but also realize the impact of such stories upon the viewers, who often act upon the receipt of information.
ACEE-The Third Eye ACEE in partnership with HH&S (Hollywood, Health & Society), a CDC funded program of the University of Southern California, Annenberg has established the project THE THIRD EYE, in India. The Third Eye is the bridge between creative communities and priorities of our times and its primary objective is to harness the power of entertainment and its outreach to steer the process of change by building awareness about key health and sustainable development issues. ACEE is also in partnerships with over 3000 NGOs, guiding lights of the health, sustainable development and climate change sectors, the Government Of India and reputed entertainment industry associations that govern our creative communities such as The Producers’ Guild of India, The Indian Television Academy and The Film Writers Association to name a few.
SPARSH SPARSH, an alliance of development/participatory process trainers, is an outcome of various training and capacity building initiatives taken by UNICEF in Maharashtra since 1999 that resulted in the creation of network of trainers across 35 districts. Owing to the growing need to provide an institutional framework to this network as well as ensuring effective coordination and management of the network, SPARSH – Centre for Participatory Learning. SPARSH has mobilized young people and developed leadership among them to drive the process of change and for communities in general to benefit from the various programs launched by the Government of India.
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Who will we meet?
These are girls and boys of Maharashtra, adolescents who have mobilized their communities to adapt to a practice, which saves lives and also enables them to maintain a healthy and clean environment where opportunity abounds.
The creative leadership of Star Network will meet them in their villages and ask them what difference does it make when they are organized and when they are given life skills and a sense of entitlement.
The young girls and boys will tell the creators about what goes right and what needs improvement. They will share their aspirations, their fears and their worries. If probed they will also tell us how changes happen in their villages and the challenges they face.
Some of the young whom the Star Network team will meet have survived a double blow, that of child marriage and desertion. But survivors they are and they have compelling stories to tell.
They will tell us from their experiences how change can be brought about and made a practice over time. DEEPSHIKHA
The Deepshikha model piloted by UNICEF is a determined effort to build life skills of young and adolescent girls from the most deprived communities. The program organizes young leaders into active and empowered groups and provides knowledge, skills and opportunities.
Village Planning by Local Youth
Young people in the village have a new identity as village volunteers since 2005, when they became part of a participatory planning exercise called Village Planning (VP). Within two years the youth group gained visible leadership in the village and won the trust of people, to become elected representatives. Today, they are a force to reckon with and as new young leaders join the ranks, it is they who are the decision makers and it is them who drive the change.
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The Process
A Pilot team from ACEE and SPARSH will visit Chandrapur and create the two day program with the villagers for Star Network. Star Network will appoint its leadership that will take the tour and give ACEE a brief about the specifics that it is looking for. The program agenda will be prepared by ACEE and shared with Star Network. A web platform connected to the Star Network Website and ACEE website will be designed and launched which will be updated with information and interactive for the entire content creation community of Star Network. The tour to Chandrapur will thus be an experience shared with the entire creative community of Star Network. Dates for the tour will be finalized. The team comprising of ACEE, SPARSH and the Star Network Leadership will go to Chandrapur. (Chandrapur is a three hour drive from Nagpur which can be reached by air by an early morning flight from Mumbai).
Time Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 07:00 a.m. Board flight to Nagpur. Breakfast Breakfast 11:00 am Reach Chandrapur. The Story Team will The Story Team will encounter the socio- leave Chandrapur economic, socio- armed with stories and cultural, as well as the reach Nagpur. socio-political environment that India’s young deal with in their day-to-day lives. 12:00 am Lunch Lunch 01:00 pm Orientation by Sparsh The Story Team will be Board flight back to about its various in discussion with Mumbai programs for the rural young leaders of the youth and also about place of visit. They will the problems and narrate their challenges faced by the experiences and then youth as well as the get into a Q&A with the organization. Star Team. The young leaders will be the narrators, and the The Story Team will be the 2013 Copyright ACEE - The Third Eye
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audience.
04:00 pm The Story Team will Tea Break. Board flight and come spend time with the back to Mumbai. SPARSH, ACEE and Youth Leadership of Chandrapur in one on one’s and groups.
05:00 pm Tiger Spotting at The Story Team will Chandrapur. workshop with ACEE and Sparsh where Star Network will present its present and emerging storylines, ACEE will provide its insights on how to weave the stories which we have encountered to the present and emerging projects of the Network, and Sparsh will authenticate and validate the information and awareness material.
09:00 pm There will be a dinner Dinner. organized by ACEE and Sparsh for The Story Team and Young Leaders of Chandrapur.
10:00 pm The youth of Chandrapur will present entertainment to The Story Team, their creativity in their style and form.
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The Star Network will keep its interaction with ACEE going as some of the stories from Chandrapur which have inspired creative leaders, find their way into existing and emerging projects in various channels of the network. ACEE will share certain methods of audience engagement through story telling with the creative leadership. ACEE will conduct surveys and collect data from across India through its networks, in the manner suggested by THE MEDIA IMPACT PROJECT, USC, Annenberg, and export the data to HH&S and The MIP for analysis. The analysis will be shared with creative leaderships in weekly meetings between ACEE and Star Network until the last story that inspired the creators has been used and had its impact measured.
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What Star Network will gain from this workshop?
Star Network’s creative leaders get unprecedented insights into the real lives of the rural youth of India and get a chance to encounter their hardships in person. Being storytellers not only do they gain an insight into the minds of our country’s future but they also gain immense compelling material to write and capture the minds of their audiences. Not only would Star Network be a pioneer to venture out into the harsh truths of today’s India but also is the first network that deals with the realities of our country and awakens our collective consciousness. Beyond this instant gain, ACEE will track these storylines and measure their impact on audiences that watch various programs of the network and imbibe values and hone their cultures from them.
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Terms & Commercials
Star Network retains ACEE at a cost of Rs. 5 Lakhs per month for a period of three months.
All other costs of travel, boarding and lodging, construction of website and its management, video recordings of the process and post production of the process etc., for the story tour as well as research and surveys, will be reimbursed by Star Network on the presentation of bills.
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94 QUESTIONAIRE DEVELOPED FOR SURVEY ON IMPACT THAT TV SERIALS ACHIEVE ON AUDIENCES:
The following are the questions:
1. Who is your favorite character? 2. Why? 3. Which character in the series do you not like? 4. Why? 5. Do you believe that the serial connects with you as in real life? 6. If yes, which aspect of it? 7. Do you think that it is make belief? 8. If yes, which aspect of it? 9. Is there anything about the present story or the characters in the present story of the series (assuming it will be a weekly questionnaire) that makes you think a lot? 10. Do you relate with any of the characters? 11. If yes, a) do you feel like you are like the character? b) Would you like to be like the character? 12. Why? 13. Are there any aspects of the serial that you agree with? 14. Are there any aspects of the serial that you don't agree with? 15. Is there anything in the serial that you think is misleading? 16. Is there anything in the serial that you think you should follow as a habit? 17. Does the serial give you any kind of impulse to be different to who you are presently? 18. If yes, what is it? 19. In which way do you think it impacts you? b) impacts your family? c) impacts your community? d) impacts society as a whole? 20. If no, do you wish there was anything that could be added to the storyline which would be of significance and of importance to you? b) your family? c) your community? d) Society as a whole? 21. As a woman do you think what is portrayed of women as characters in the serial is good or bad? 22. If good, why? 23. If bad, why?
We should get a cross section of men, young as well as older generation to answer the last two questions as follows:
1. As a man do you think women in the serial are portrayed correctly? 2. If they are portrayed correctly, why? 3. If they are portrayed incorrectly, why?
95 AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR MTV EXIT
AIM:
In a series of activities ranging from creation of media content, youth engagement and strategic communication, MTV Exit intends to impact the people of Bihar on human trafficking and aims to put an end to the inhuman practice.
OBJECTIVES:
To contribute to a reduction in human trafficking in India To raise awareness of human trafficking in India, in order to promote behavioural change and drive social action.
RESEARCH:
The campaign content will be designed to surround the production and release of a documentary film in response to the vulnerable populations perceived and actual economic and utilitarian needs and aspirations.
Through research as well as ongoing interactions with the communities and NGO partners, the campaign team will gain knowledge and understanding about the lives and culture of the TG.
Research will also contribute to the campaign being informative and challenging:
There are many attitudinal barriers to social change, including challenging social norms and economic compulsions that influence whether people feel that they can act on the new information they have gained.
The research will be the basis of ensuring that all content produced will be:
Empowering
Entertaining
Socially and culturally relevant
Practical
Clear.
APPROACH:
The campaign team will engage with the target audience through the help of various tools and track each process to measure its impact at regular intervals. The following are the three approaches that will enable the team to create a calendar of events, releases and engagement routines during the screenings of the documentary film on ground, through mass media (regional TV channels, digital screenings and radio), which can be tracked and measured as they go along:
96 1. Multimedia Campaign: Use of technology, communication materials, networks of NGO’s, local administrators, religious leaders, films, TV, theatre, music, radio and other methods to engage with communities in Bihar over a period of six months. 2. Network of NGO’s: Create a network of NGO’s to meet every month of the six month period to workshop and derive strategy and subjective communication techniques which can be developed and disseminated by the campaign team. At every meeting of the network, the outcome will also be an analysis of the past month and the results achieved. The best NGO will be awarded. 3. REEL to REAL: 38 youth leaders representing 38 districts of Bihar will be selected and a workshop will be held to empower them with abilities to design on ground screenings of the film, produced by the campaign team, as mini events in their districts and to be able to conduct Q&A’s with the audience that can be recorded and shared digitally as well as used for research and analysis. They will be trained to communicate results with the campaign team and each other, online. Each youth leader will also be the creative activist/leader of his/her district and help the campaign team by identifying dynamic youth who are trendsetters in their respective districts who will lead the campaign at the district level and carry the message forward by organizing ground events/concerts, by using street theatre and music. After the campaign is concluded the youth leaders will continue to meet every quarter to assess the situation, discuss issues and list further possibilities. On their return to their respective districts they will contribute 2 films of 3 to 5 minutes each that they see through their lens regarding the issues. These films can be testimonies of victims who have returned to safety and those under threat. The films will be stringed together to make half hour episodes for television, and be released through new media and social media. These films will also be screened in theatres across the states.
Tool Engagement Platforms Action
Television documentary Mass Media through MTV, DD and regional channels
Screenings by youth leaders Ground Events and by local NGO’s with video graphed Q&A sessions. Dissemination of information through communication materials at the mini events. Ground Events, Mass Media, High Profile Concerts New Media Ground Events, New Media Youth Sessions
Road shows Ground Events, New Media
Mass Media, Ground Events, Public service announcements New Media, Mass Media, Ground Media, TV Features and Music Videos New Media
97 Working through local Ground Events, Workshops, organization Networking
Engaging victims who have Ground Events, Mass Media, been trafficked New Media Posters, Brochures, Leaflets, Print, Ground Distribution, Pamphlets, Information Cards Networking Exercises
Networking with NGO’s Ground Events, Networking, Workshops Chaupal as a communication Ground Event, New Media. tool
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