Himalayan destruction like Ponzi scheme, says director of climate film

DEHRADUN: Calling the large-scale destruction of the Himalayas “nothing short of a Ponzi scheme,” filmmaker Shankar Borua said unchecked human greed has caused irreversible damage to the fragile mountain ecology.

Borua, who grew up in Assam surrounded by the Eastern Himalayas and has spent recent years in Uttarakhand, said he has witnessed environmental degradation in both regions. “I have now seen the damage in both parts of the Himalayas,” he said.


These experiences led him to write a story that appears to be a crime thriller on the surface but subtly focuses on climate change. The music of his film Blue Ocean, written and composed by Bollywood lyricist Shelle, was launched on Friday.

The 120-minute Hindi, Punjabi and English film is expected to stream by Baisakhi this year. Shot entirely in Dehradun, the film uses the Himalayas as a critical subtext.

“The movie was shot in Dehradun; its music was written and recorded here. The Himalayas remain a critical subtext throughout. It attempts to highlight decades-long human intervention in the Himalayan region, at great peril to the flora and fauna, within the confines of a crime thriller,” Borua said.

Made over nearly a year with a crew of 35 people, the film has already been screened at colleges and universities across Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand.

While Borua has worked on nearly a dozen projects in the past, Blue Ocean marks his first mainstream full-length Bollywood venture. Dedicated to Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the film’s tagline — Sabko anjaam ka dar ho, yeh zaroori toh nahi — is drawn from one of the legendary singer’s qawwalis.

“Maybe if we knew what the consequences of our actions would be, we wouldn’t chop down all the trees. Not protecting our wilderness for future generations is nothing short of a criminal act. This is what the journey of our protagonist, an undercover cop, portrays,” he told TOI.