‘Filmmaking still a luxury in Chhattisgarh’

THRISSUR: Filmmaking is still in a stage of infancy in Chhattisgarh, which is predominantly populated by tribespeople, says director and writer of feature film ‘4 SUM’ Neeraj Gwal (30), who is from Chhattisgarh.
“Majority of the people there are still worried about their primary needs like food, shelter, education and healthcare. They are so preoccupied with meeting their daily requirements and most of them cannot afford the luxury of thinking about filmmaking,” said Gwal, who is here to attend the ongoing International Film Festival of Thrissur (IFFT).
Gwal’s film ‘4 SUM’ has won several awards, including the best director award at the ‘Caleidoscope Indian Film Festival 2021’, Boston. The film has also gained entry in the Panama International Film Festival and Mumbai Independent Film Festival.
Gwal had to struggle hard to make a mark in the film industry. “I had dropped out of college when I was a second-year electronics and telecommunication engineering student at Bhilai. I ran away from home when I was 18 to pursue filmmaking in Mumbai,” he said.
“In the initial years, I worked as a light boy, technician and did minor jobs. I had also worked as an artist. Later, I started writing. When they saw my writing potential, they gave me more opportunities. After about five years, I went back to my home state to make films there and could complete my engineering there,’’ said Gwal.
He said though Chhattisgarh is a major market for Hindi films, the number of films made by filmmakers from their state is still limited.
Most of the films made by people from there flop commercially, and poor quality of films and lack of audience interest for non-Hindi films, could be some of the reasons for this. Of late, things are changing slowly and the government has now giving subsidies to filmmakers from Chhattisgarh and to the films made there.