BANGALORE: The documentary ‘After The Storm’ narrating the aftermath of the arrests of several people for the blasts across India was released by its director and producer Shubhradeep Chakravorty recently at Infantry Hall. The launch of the documentary also attracted the presence of high profile dignitaries like ex-minister Karnataka SRMT B T Lalita Naik and former opposition leader AK Subaiya among others.
The film set a subdued tone in the audience as it navigated through sad experiences of people who were accused and arrested for various blasts in the country. Through the documentary, the victims narrate how they were whisked away by the CBI and tortured in custody but later acquitted because of lack of evidence. It further focuses on how the victims like Mukhtar Ahmed arrested for the Chennai blasts find it hard to re-build their tarnished reputation in their societies.
The concern of finding out how the victims moved on with their lives is what inspired Shubhradeep to make the documentary. Asked why he settled for the title ‘After the storm’, the director said, “The abrupt arrests, the way people were picked and the difficulties they faced made me focus on that title”. Riyaz Ahmed, Harith Anansari and Umar Farooque were among other victims whose education and job aspirations were heavily interrupted according to film.
Shoaib Muhammed, son of the victim Mukhtar Ahmed said that his family suffered a lot in the absence of their father. Not to arrest and harass innocent civilians is the message Shoaib wants to convey to the concerned people. He also emphasised that the police should make deep investigations before arresting people. Khan who was also a part of the audience said, “The documentary should be a lesson to the police and CBI. Arresting innocent Indians cannot be justified at all”.