One Drop, an international organisation, is setting a new standard in the use of social arts for awareness, community mobilisation and behavioural change by partnering with Delhi-based Odia filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda to produce a feature-length Bollywood film Kaun Hai Kitne Paani Mein (“Who is how deep in water) revolving round issues of water access and sanitation and featuring stars Kunal Kappor, Radhika Apteym, Gulshan Grover and Saurabh Shukla.
The film would explore themes such as the sanctity of water, the difference it makes when a population respects its water supply, castes, and rural life against the backdrop of a traditional Bollywood love story. It is the first time ever that villagers in Odisha, one of the poorest States in India where the film is set, would be able to recognise their own traditional folk music and choreography, landscapes, and neighbours in the mainstream Indian cinema, instilling a sense of pride and emotional connection.
The first phase of the shooting of the film was canned in Patna, Rajasthan and Mumbai recently. And now the next shooting began at Tamando in Bhubaneswar from Saturday. Among the features of the film is the popular Odia song Rangabati, rangabati. In India, 128 million people are deprived of safe water and 839 million more live without basic sanitation. The situation is especially dire in rural areas where the lack of access to these essential services is a widespread issue affecting the most vulnerable.
One Drop’s projects use a unique approach involving water access, financial inclusion and social arts in order to ensure the sustainability of interventions. Its venture in India is funded in part by the Royal Bank of Canada through its RBC Blue Water Project and the United Technologies Corporation. Nila Madhab Panda has made critically-acclaimed films of I Am Kalam and Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid.