THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two documentary films were screened on the final day of the Hay Festival. ‘I for India’, a homemade documentary filmed by Yash Pal Suri, helped in driving home thoughts on what it really means to be Indian.Suri, who left India in 1965 to the UK and used his super 8 camera over a period of 40 years, returned home with those images of snow, miniskirt-wearing ladies dancing bare legged, his first trip to an English supermarket, portraits on personal life and emotional experiences within his family. The documentation process has been genuinely handled, capturing the very fine details.The documentary brings to the fore the nostalgic Bollywood movie songs of eighties which used to be merged with the environmental ambience of Hindu ritualistic weddings and other family activities. It was as if a totally different mood experimentation with sound and music was happening all through. Suri’s commentary on images of those memoirs abroad felt very personal, but it seemed a window to the economic and cultural exchange between England and India. Yet another documentary that was screened followed the life of Budhia Singh, a four-year-old boy who created world record by running 65 km at a stretch. He was the subject of media controversy and political high handedness a few years ago. The documentary ‘Marathon Boy’ follows Budhia’s life from age of 4 to 8 years. Budhia was sold for around Rs 800 by his biological mother to Biranchi Das, Judo coach. Budhia was noted for his unique talent for running long distances, trained and encouraged by his mentor Biranchi Das. His talent soon made him a folk hero.But he soon attracted controversies and political agitations in terms of child abuse. Coach Biranchi Das defended Budhia and stated that he would present the boy in future Olympics, when everybody would shut their mouths. But Das was brutally murdered after a series of dramatic events.
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