BENGALURU: There have been verses and stories written to describe the relationship between man and gods. Many might have taken a spiritual and romantic take on it, but Dvija, a short film based on the dance form, Bharatanatyam, depicts that the relationship can be a transactional one too. Performed by the danseuse Savitha Sastry, the short film is directed by award winning director AK Srikanth .
The film is based on a short story titled The Shrine by A K Srikanth, and is inspired by and dedicated to Uera Akinari, the author of the Japanese epic Harusame Monogatari. Explaining the film, Srikanth says Dvija means twice-born, and it explores the concept of karma, rebirth, and the relationship that the transactional world has with God.
In the story, a divine being stays in a village despite which villagers don’t see any miracles happening. The relationship between them starts souring to such an extent that they announce that the divine being is not God but a trickster. “The story was written four years ago and it was supposed to have been produced in 2019. It looks into the relationship that man has with God. We are all praying but it usually is transactional,” says Srikanth.
Sastry, the brain behind the choreography, has used three choreography sequences. “The character in Dvija has been envisioned in a way that she lives every minute of her life. So, dance becomes an easy medium to show the joy,” explains Sastry.
The release of this film also coincides with the tenth year of Savitha and Srikanth’s production company, which made films such as Descent, Beyond the Rains and Three Colors Trilogy. It is not the first time that the couple has explored the life and death cycle in their work.
They have shown similar concepts in their debut production Soul Cages (2012) and Prophet (2013). Dvija, however, takes a huge leap forward from their earlier productions, be it in ambition, scope, or philosophy of the project. The film was shot in Nilgiris hills, with a village being created as a set amidst the mountains for an authentic experience.