The first public screening of the Hindi film ‘ID’, that bagged the NETPAC (Network for promotion of Asian Cinema) award for best Asian Film at the last IFFK, was held at Kothamangalam Ann Cinema Theatre on January 20. The 90-minute feature film, directed by Kamal K M is based on the identity of people and the ever-widening gap between them, in the backdrop of Mumbai city.
‘ID’,screened at Busan, Torino, Abudabi and other major film festivals, is the prime initiative of ‘Collective Phase One’, a collective of six renowned Malayalis, director Kamal K M, sound engineer Resul Pookutty, cinematographer Rajeev Ravi, production designer Sunil Babu, editor B Ajithkumar and cinematographer Madhu Neelakandan. All of them are the alumni of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.
In the function held by Mar Athanasius Film Club in association with Sumangala Film Society, Kamal, Madhu and Ajithkumar were felicitated. All three of them were once the active members of ‘Sumangala’, one of the oldest film societies of the state, that has been functioning for the past 36 years. “It was a moment of extreme pride for the film club that has introduced these eminent filmmakers to the world of cinema. The club has been playing an integral part in influencing the aesthetic sensibility of the cine-viewers for long,” says Antony Abraham, the founder member of Sumangala.
The film society was inaugurated in 1976 by celebrated filmmaker John Abraham.
‘ID’ is a film that raises pertinent questions about the identity of an individual in the ever increasing population, and the futility of identity proofs.
In the film, the protagonist Charu, an MBA graduate, shares a rented apartment with her friends. The residents, who are all from different parts of the country, have come to Mumbai to make the bustling metro their home.
The story has an unexpected twist when a man falls unconscious on the floor of her apartment. He was a labourer who came to paint a soiled wall at her house. A worried Charu took him to the hospital. Though she tries hard, she could not find the identity of the man.
The director has stated in the website of the film that the incident was inspired from an experience one of his friend had. A labourer working at her house collapsed in the midst of his work. This man had no form of identification on him. She didn’t know whom to ask for aid in getting medical help for him. Kamal states, “How do we connect to our environment with a greater sensitivity at a time when there is an ever-widening divide between us?”
The film has been shot in real locations. Kamal has written that, the city spoke to the crew through its myriad migrant people. And the process of filmmaking revealed many unknown spaces to them, spaces screaming to be heard. Through the anonymity of the city, they traversed, searching for the identity of a nameless man.
Geetanjali Thapa, Murari Kumar, Rukshana Tabassum, Shinjini Raval and Shashi Sharma are some of the actors of the film.