India’s first carbon-neutral feature film is being produced from the Northeast, says Lopamudra Gogoi
MAYA KHOLIE from Arunachal Pradesh is set to create cinematic history in India. She has come forward to produce India’s first carbon-neutral feature film.
Except Mary Kom, the recent hit Bollywood film, it is rare to find the Northeast and its cultures getting importance in Hindi mainstream cinema. Kholie is changing that with her film featuring singer-actor Palash Sen (of Euphoria band fame), Ira Dubey, Yashpal Sharma, Prisha Dabbas, Saurabh Pandey and Tinu Anand.
Through this film titled Aisa Yeh Jahaan we discover two young talents from Arunachal Pradesh, Kymsleen Kholie (playing one of the main protagonists) and Kezleen Kholie (lends voice in one of the main songs). The songs — six in all — composed by Sen have a unique ring to them.
The film is based on a socio–environmental, light-hearted story set mainly in Mumbai and partly in Assam. It is written and directed by Biswajeet Bora, who had worked with 13-time national award winner and internationally acclaimed filmmaker Jahnu Barua for a few years.
The film revolves around the life of a family living in the concrete jungle of Mumbai, where the race for acquiring a good status and fame has overpowered the importance of nature and its need in our lives. It addresses the strong social problem of ever-growing human detachment from nature. Aisa Yeh Jahaan expects to create a meaningful dialogue with audiences across all age and ethnicity. It raises pertinent questions about life and survival, and everything that lies in between.
The film’s co-producer Karanzal Kholie said Centre for Environmental Research and Education, a Mumbai-based NGO that works to promote environmental sustainability through action-oriented education, awareness and advocacy in the field of carbon management, is involved with the project.
The NGO will conduct an audit based on certain parameters to measure the emissions associated with producing the film. Based on the audit, they will take steps to compensate for the adverse effects on the environment by planting trees and take other measures.
A film directly and indirectly impacts the environment through emissions from on-site fuel, vehicle and special effects fuel. Shipping of equipment and air travel associated with a film’s production and onset generators, among others, also come into play. So to compensate the loss of environment the producers will be removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they have put in, making the film carbon-neutral.
Some of the famous carbon-neutral foreign titles are 24, the Emmy award-winning series from Imagine and Twentieth Century Fox Television, George Clooney’s Syriana, Day the Earth Stood Still and The Day After Tomorrow, to name a few.
Maya Kholie had formed her production house in Mumbai in 2009 and made a documentary titled Angel of the aboriginals: Dr Verrier Elwin in association with director Biswajeet Bora. This film went to Bollywood Beyond Film Festival in Germany, IUAES in Turkey and other festivals. Bora made couple of projects including Assamese film A Thousand Fireflies Sparkle, which was showcased in many international film festivals.
Aisa Yeh Jahaan also has a club song which is being pasteurized by the renowned Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya. Supermodel Carol Gracias has participated in this song along with 120 dancers. The film is scheduled for all India and oversees release in December-end or January 2015.