As part of its peace initiative, ZEEl aims to bring together 12 filmmakers from each side of the border, India and Pakistan, to bridge the gap
With the aim of bringing the two countries together, and bridge the gap through arts and culture, Zee Entertainment Enterprises limited launched its peace initiative, Zeal For Unity at the Wagah Border. launched at the zero line, the initiative aims to bring 12 noted filmmakers from both the countries together for a cross-cultural dialogue. As part of the whole plan, filmmakers along with media persons were expected to greet all those at the border but many hopes were burnt when the permission was denied by the forces. This could not dampen the spirits of those aiming to bring peace between the two countries as only a few including the Indian filmmakers, representatives from Zee were granted the permission to welcome all those coming from the neighbouring country.
As the proceedings went by, all the filmmakers from Pakistan and India were brought together at Sarhad (a dhaba cum restaurant few kilometers away from the border) to talk about the initiative and stories that inspired them. Shailja Kejriwal, chief creative, Special Projects at Zee, the woman behind the initiative shared that it aims to brings together creative minds of both the countries who will come together to promote the cause of unity between the two nations. “We have already taken our first step by bringing 12 filmmakers on board from both sides of the border. These 12 films will be showcased in both the countries as part of the initiative,” she explained.
A special AV was also shows at the beginning of the event highlighting the philosophy, ‘Zeal For Unity, It takes 2’. Sunil Buch, chief business officer, ZEEl elaborated on the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — The World is my Family. “To do anything constructive in life, it takes more than one individual. It takes 2 to move ahead and that is the value proposition that we have chosen for the initiative,” he shared.
As part of the first step, 12 filmmkers were approached by Kejriwal and who were given the freedom to make any movie of their own choice. Aparna Sen, Bejoy Nambiar, Ketan Mehta, Nikhil Advani, Tanuja Chandra, Tigmanshu Dhulia from India and Khalid Ahmed, Mehreen Jabbar, Meenu-Farjad, Sahiba Sumar and Siraj-ul-Haque from Pakistan talked about their short films and the inspiration from their movies.
Mehta, who has made a movie on Manto’s Toba Tek Singh shared with us, “This was the story that came to my mind when I was told about this initiative. Pankaj Kapur has done a brilliant job as Toba Tek Singh. It is a powerful story about Partition and it was the first story that came to my mind.” Nambiar, on the other hand shared that when he was informed that he can tell any story he likes, he immediately jumped to the idea. “It was part of a larger initiative bringing two counties together so I could not say no to it,” he said.
Sen stressed on the idea of speaking for each other heart by heart. “These are just shadow lines and we can get rid of them if we decide so,” she shared. Dhulia advised the organisers that the next step in this regard should be that Indian filmmakers should work with Pakistani actors and vice-versa. However, for Sumar, it was difficult to make a short film keeping the time and scale in mind. “Though it was challenging, but it came out quiet well,” she said.
The initiative will further continue the cultural dialogue between people from both sides of the border through varied forms of art.
photos Sanjeev Kumar