Doordarshan shies away from anguish of free India

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 26: After the controversy over the telecast of Rugmini, the Doordarshan Kendra here has decided to err on the side...

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 26: After the controversy over the telecast of Rugmini, the Doordarshan Kendra here has decided to err on the side of caution. It has all but decided to reject a 27-minute work on the freedom struggle by noted director C P Padmakumar, made by the C-DIT for Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust.

As of now, it has been decided that the film, Swathanthryam, will not be shown as part of a three-episode serial on SAHMAT and its activities. While DD officials say that a separate slot for Padmakumar’s work would be found, insiders are of the opinion that DD finds the work “harsh and bitter”, something unfit for telecast at a time when the nation is celebrating the golden jubilee of Independence.

The short film depicts the general disillusionment and pain of freedom fighters over the present state of the country. The mood is admittedly gloomy and there is not one freedom fighter who is found happy at the way the nation has shaped up.

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Swathanthryam was originally part of a three-part serial produced by C-DIT for Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust. The other two parts have been prepared by James Joseph and Venkiteshwaran. Doordarshan has decided to telecast works by the other two directors and has only to decide on the date, sources said.

Padmakumar is disappointed, to put it mildly. “I started work on the day the Safdar Hashmi festival opened here. If the film is harsh and bitter, I am not to blame. It is factual what freedom fighters think about the state of the country today. Almost everyone I spoke to was disillusioned. I cannot misinterpret their thoughts, can I,” he asked.

“The new President as well as the Prime Minister all speak about unhealthy trends in the country. DD gaily beams it across the country. It however objects when freedom fighters, who made it all possible, speak about a glorious chance lost. It is unfair,” the director said.