Delhi rape incident on celluloid soon

Kolkata: The brutal gangrape and murder of a Delhi girl in December last year and its aftermath is the subject of an upcoming Bengali movie featuring veteran Soumitra Chatterjee and a host of debutant actors.

The director of the movie, Milan Bhowmik, said his film, named `Nirbhaya`, would deal with the street protests in the wake of the incident rather than focusing on the actual event. "I have consciously made the film after the Delhi braveheart who can be our sister, daughter or friend. There have been protests, rallies, sit-ins, but my question is: Do these protests really make any difference to the lives of hundreds and thousands of such girls out in the streets every day?" he told PTI. Asked why his film was named `Nirbhaya`, Bhowmik said that that was because the media had named her so to protect her identity. "By naming the film Nirbhaya, I have sought to draw references from one particular incident which shook the psyche of entire India, and for that matter the whole world, and then broadbase the theme to include other similar incidents happening every third minute across the country." He ruled out that his film takes a dig at ‘Rang De Basanti’ for ushering in the trend of candlelight protests in the country. "RDB was a great movie which stirred the youth of the country. But I have sought to probe in my film if candlelight protests actually contribute in changing the psyche of the perverts, the abusers of women and the criminals," says the director. Soumitra, who is portraying the role of chief minister, said, "The subject is very crucial and important in today`s society. But I won`t dwell much about my character at this stage." Bhowmik, who wanted to wrap up shooting in 40 days, denied he wanted to cash in on the brutal incident by taking up the subject in his film. "As a human being, everyone of us was deeply moved and disturbed by the incident. And as a filmmaker, though confined to one genre, I thought I should put forth my views on celluloid." He asked not to add commercial angle to films on such incidents. Besides Soumitra, Badshah Moitra plays an upright police officer in the movie and Srilekha Mitra his wife. Raj, Amrapali and Meghali are the new faces where Raj is the boyfriend accompanying the abused girl. PTI