A show with no audience

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When Yuvraj Singh decided to make a documentary on his successful battle against cancer, there were many takers for the three series show called Zindagi Abhi Baaki Hai. However, not all documentaries meet a similar fate. There are many inspiring and motivating documentary films made on eminent personalities that go unnoticed and unseen thanks to lack of marketing and finances, say filmmakers.

Documentary filmmaker Matiur Rehman has been trying to screen a documentary on one of the top climate scientists A.P. Mitra for four years now. “But no TV channel or theatre seems to be interested. Many films become history without ever reaching its audience,” says Rehman. He had also recorded the achievements of famous scientist Avinash G. Patwardhan. However, the documentary never reached the editing room due to lack of finances.
Another filmmaker Yousuf Saeed has similar stories to tell. After 20 years of documentary filmmaking it doesn’t surprise him that TV channels don’t bother to reply to his requests. “TV channels are hardly interested in a film unless they see some revenue. And to release a film in theatres or on DVDs needs funding which is hard to come by unless a film is sponsored by a channel or an organisation,” he says.
NDTV has a slot for documentaries but that comes with many restrictions and terms and not all filmmakers are willing to mould their films around that, says Yousuf. Seeing the number of documentaries not being circulated properly many filmmakers got together in 1989 to form Magic Lantern Foundation.
“We have also tried to revive films like The Sacrifice Of Babulal Bhuiya by Manjira Dana made in 1988. Since it’s a small step and very niche audience are aware about it there is no revenue generation for filmmakers,” says Ranjan De, a filmmaker and co-founder of MLF.
Without proper marketing many independent filmmakers have to struggle for years to recover cost of filmmaking, if they manage to recover it at all, adds Ranjan.
“I made a biography on India’s first actress Kamla Bai Gokhale in 1992, and it took me four years to recover the cost of making, which was Rs 4 lakh,” says filmmaker Reena Mohan. It was about two decades back. However, Yousuf says things haven’t changed much since then. “From making films, showing around and recovering cost, the responsibility lies with the filmmaker. And when a film is forgotten, it gets even harder for filmmakers,” adds Yousuf.