As the momentum against the steel flyover between Hebbal and Basaveshwara Circle continues to build, Kannada filmmaker Pawan Kumar wants Bengalureans to put on their creative hats to show their opposition to the project.
On Tuesday, Pawan uploaded a short film to his Facebook page, which makes the point that what Bengalureans want is trees and not a steel flyover. He also announced a short film competition, inviting social media users to make their own short films about the issue.
Urging people to, “Think simple... but high on concept. Let your film get more people aware of this issue,” Pawan asked budding filmmakers to make a one-minute short film on “Bengaluru Steel Flyover Yaake Beda”, and submit it at http://bit.ly/steelflyovershortfilm before November 10. The makers of the three winning entries, judged by Prakash Belawadi and Pawan, will get a chance to work in the direction department of Pawan’s next film.
Speaking to The News Minute, Pawan says that video today is the best medium to reach out to people with shortened attention spans and little time on their hands, “The most has to be said in the least amount of time. A short film offers that right space. It has to be creative, short, attention-grabbing and effective.”
Pawan’s own short film has already been viewed nearly 8,000 times on YouTube within 24 hours of being uploaded. “I felt, what if this is done by 100 more people? Then it will reach out to many more citizens. And this will also create an opportunity for the creative thinkers to showcase their talents,” he adds.
For Pawan, this is not the first experience of using films to influence popular opinion on civic issues. His last feature film, “U Turn” became very popular for raising awareness about how traffic violations can result in tragic consequences, and even got the BBMP to issue a directive mandating that 265 of its engineers watch the film.
“‘U Turn” is the best example to cite. It made people aware of the problem, many now have it ingrained in them to not make illegal U-turns. And the government also acted upon it. Films are a great medium to create positive impact,” says Pawan.
Watch Pawan’s short film on “Steel Flyover Beda” here: