Tragedy through a filmmaker’s eyes

T'puram: National award-winning filmmaker R Sarath has released a 30-minute documentary on the Bhopal gas tragedy. Sarath is one of the survivors of the tragedy, considered the world's worst industrial disaster, which took place on Dec 3, 1984.The documentary, titled ‘Burial of Dreams', vividly presents the personal encounter of the Malayalee filmmaker as a young student who travelled from Kerala to Bhopal, seeking admission for an MPhil course at Bhopal University. The documentary, said Sarath, is his tribute to the thousands affected by the disaster."The tragedy still lingers in me as a haunting experience. I too experienced some health issues for a long time. I was in Bhopal, and the news about the deadly gas leak was brought to us by a girl in the neighbourhood who, along with her family members, died in the tragedy. I was staying with some of my friends there when the girl brought us the news," Sarath said.Sarath and his friends took advice from nearby Hamidia Hospital before they decided on which direction they should move to escape from the gas leak, the virulence of which was still uncertain for them. "There were no vehicles available. We ran some 10km in the direction recommended to us by the hospital. Meanwhile, the entire family of the girl who brought the information to us perished as they, like many others, ran in the wrong direction. The scenes we came across the next day were horrific. Truckloads of dead bodies were being removed from both sides of the road. It took me several years to overcome the tragedy," he said. The documentary narrative progresses through the director's personal encounter with the tragedy and that of several other survivors. After dropping his MPhil plans following the tragedy, Sarath became a film and documentary director. His debut film ‘Sayahnam', which dealt with environmental and anti-nuclear campaigns, won him the national award for best debut direction in 2000.The documentary, produced by General Pictures, which produced several films by legendary director Adoor Gopalakrishnan, was screened to the public on Dec 3, 4, and 5 in Bhopal on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the gas tragedy. The documentary in English will be screened in major cities soon.