Ashvin's next on Pak youth

Designer Ritu Kumar’s elder son Ashvin Kumar’s short film based on Doon School, Dehradun, was screened at the platinum jubilee celebrations of the school recently.
Ashvin, whose 2004 short film, “Little Terrorist”, was nominated for an Oscar, showed “Dazed In Doon” to an audience of 4000 people at the school. “That’s the biggest audience I’ve ever shown a film to. People went out with tears in their eyes, even those who had no connection with Doon school or have had no experience of being a hosteller,” said Ashvin, a Doon alumnus from the 1991 batch.
The film showcases the life of two boys in the school, and deals with school dilemmas like bullying and shows how their bond grows despite the ups and downs in their lives.Ashvin completed it in four months and acted in it as well – he plays a teacher in the film. Among those who joined in the celebrations were “Kalikesh Singh Deo (BJD MP), my junior, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was three batches senior to me. I’ve known them all from those days. It was such a pleasure to meet them,” he told us. Next, the filmmaker is planning to turn “Daze...” into a full-length feature film and release it worldwide, besides showcasing it at film festivals across the world.
Ashvin’s next feature documentary – “Inshallah, Football” – is a film based on the youth in Pakistan. “I spent a year in Pakistan for this film. It’s about young footballers living across the border and tries to explain why they’re unhappy. It also offers a few solutions to lessen Indo-Pak tensions,” he says.
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