National award for Jaipur-based film-maker

Film-maker Ramesh Asher has been adjudged the best director for Ek Adesh in non-feature category.
Film-maker Ramesh Asher has been adjudged the best director for Ek Adesh in non-feature category.
Film-maker Ramesh Asher has been adjudged the best director for Ek Adesh in non-feature category.
JAIPUR: For the city-based small budget film-maker Ramesh Asher, it was just a film that he made for the Children's Film Society India.But little did Ramesh know that this subject would win him the highest honour of the country, Swarna Kamal Award, for the best direction in the non-feature film category. The film, titled Ek Adesh-a command for Chhoti - deals with the age-old enmity between the Bishnois and Bagarias, the two tribes in western Rajasthan.
Ramesh received National Film Awards from Pratibha Patil during a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 2. Besides winning the best award for direction, he also bagged the Rajat Kamal for the best director of the same film, which was also adjudged the best short fiction film.
"Taking the award from the President was an overwhelming experience. It also provided me an opportunity to interact with old time friends like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who was there to receive the best popular entertainment award for his blockbuster film Lage Raho Munnabhai," said Ramesh, while talking to TOI on Wednesday.
Highlighting the synopsis of his film, Ramesh said, "The two communities of Bishnois and Bagarias are age-old enemies. Bishnois are farmers for whom conservation of environment and deer, in particular, is a religion. On the other hand, Bagarias are hunters for whom the deer is a source of livelihood." He said that the lead character in the film - a 12-year-old Bishnoi girl, Chhoti, one day spots a Bagaria just as he is about to shoot a deer. She comes to the animal's rescue by lunging at the hunter. "After the rescue, Chhoti and her family realize that the flashpoint between the two communities is a just cause and equally just cause and the essence of religion is humanity," he added.
Originally from Jamnagar in Gujarat, Ramesh has been living in Bajaj Nagar in Jaipur for the past 15 years. He pursued film-making from Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India in 1975 with batchmates like Naseeruddin Shah, Ketan Mehta, Syed Mirza and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Instead of being a part of the mainstream film industry, Ramesh opted for off-beat small-budget films on social issues.
His other award-winning short- films are: Blue Flames, Green Villages, Bhavani Bhavai and Yun Sikhlayen Akhar. He also worked with ISRO on its satellite television project and was associated with several other educational themes.