Face in the Crowd
Three films were made for 'Face in the Crowd' category. They were all telecast on the national network from DDK, Delhi.
Face in the crowd is a programme that was telecast from Doordarshan. The idea behind the programme is to project the good work done by people who are different from others in their attitude to help the society but who have not hogged the limelight. They deserve to be projected to the people with the intention of motivating some youngsters to follow them in their own sphere of activities
| #1 Dr.(Ms) Lakshmi Vijayakumar Psychiatrist and founder of 'Sneha' - a voluntary organisation to help prevent suicides. |
| #2 Laurie Baker Architect who specialises in low cost housing and winner of the prestigious 'Habitat' award. |
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#3 Ms.Uma Narayan A social worker who founded the branch of SOS village for rehabilitation of orphans and destitute women. |
Dr.(Ms) Lakshmi Vijayakumar
By qualification and profession Dr.(Ms) Lakshmi Vijayakumar is a psychiatrist. Of course that doesn't make her anyone special. But she is also the founder of an organisaton called Sneha. Sneha helps people who are in the verge of committing suicide by providing them with an opportunity to talk to someone who is willing to listen to their woes and suggest very subtly that they must give life another chance. Most often the potential suicider changes his/her mind and joins the mainstream of society.
The difficulty we faced in dong this film is that while we are committed to highlighting the contribution of the person we could not reveal the identities of the potential suiciders. This meant we could not get attestations form the people who benefited. All the same the film had to be interesting. So we decided to structure the film more as a docu drama rather a documentary. We used professional artistes to play the roles of the suiciders and real life volunteers In between we included the interview with Dr.(Ms.)Lakshmi Vijaykumar to narrate how she during one of her trips abroad was impressed by a similar organisation and how she went about setting up one in India.
The film ahs commentary but that is restricted to the minimum to give a feel of docu drama The film was very well received. When it was telecast many people contacted Sneha, offering their services as volunteers. And of course many more suicides were also prevented as they contacted Sneha.
Laurie Baker
Just bricks and mortar and looks like unfinished buildings - is what most of the people will comment about the buildings of the architect Laurie Baker. Baker is renowned for his low cost housing that is not just economical but fully functional and according to some well known architects they are all unique in their designs. Baker was awarded the Habitat award for pioneering work in architecture.
The specialty of Baker is he finds it possible to be innovative where many others feel constrained to be conventional or follow the rules. This is evident from the designs of the living quarters for Govt. staff.
In tune with the uniqueness of the man on whom the film is made, the film has commentary only for 30 % of the duration. For the rest it is Baker's voice that does the explaining and most often he is seen near his completed works. He is thus the presenter as well as narrator as for as this film is concerned and the film is centered around him. This for Indian TV is something different and was appreciated by one and all. We believe that a documentary need not be just some visuals with commentary by a third person and some interviews. In this film it is like a conversation between a visitor and the celebrity
Before this Doordarshan has made a short film on Laurie Baker. The viewers and critics liked our film better than the earlier one.
Ms.Uma Narayan
When one enters the SOS
village, situated about 30 Kms from Madras, one will get the feeling that he is
entering a housing colony where there are more children than adults. In a way it
is true, as each house has about 10 to 12 children of varying age with one
woman. They do live like one family, but they are not born in the same family.
The children are orphans and the woman is a destitute woman deserted by her
husband and relatives.
It is Ms.Uma Narayan, the socialite from Madras who have
brought them together and arranged to live like a family. The woman has to take
care of the children.
SOS Village is the brain child of the German pilot who flew a number of bomber sorties during the World War II Each time he did his duty as a bomber pilot and bombed the enemy territories he was painfully aware of the fact that he would be instrumental in leaving behind orphaned children and widowed women. After the war he set us the SOS village where the Orphaned children and destitute women are brought together and helped them to live like a family. Here both the woman and the children benefited.
Having seen one such SOS village Ms.Uma Narayan decided to set up an SOS village in Madras.
The film begins with a visit to the village without revealing the fact that it is SOS village. Slowly it reveals the facts an this is done through commentary and interviews with the inmates. The visuals cover a wide variety of shots of the children and the women both together and in their daily activities. The film ends with the remark of Ms.Uma Narayan, who says that she would happy the day there is no orphan or destitute to take care of. A noble thought that one wishes comes true soon all over the world