At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the film industry to produce films on Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhism, a short dance film from Assam has won big at the 8th Delhi Shorts International Film Festival, 2019.

Vaishnava – Being Humane, a short film based on principles and ideologies of Gandhi, has once again brought laurels to the state by winning the Best Music Video award at the 8th Delhi Shorts International Film Festival, 2019.

Earlier, the film has won an award at the 7th Indian Cine Film Festival held in Mumbai, 6th Pink City International Film Festival, Jaipur and Highest Commendation at Asia South East-Short Film Festival, 2019 in Cambodia. The film was also among the top 15 films of Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival Short Film Contest, Guwahati, 2019.

The film has been made to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. The film has been conceptualised by IRS officer Padmapani Bora and renowned Sattriya dancer and recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Yuva Puraskar, Mridusmita Das. The film is directed by Rukshana Tabassum and music is composed by singer Rupam Bhuyan. Das has also choreographed the short dance film.

Vaishnava Jana To is a  bhajan, written in the 15th century by the poet Narsinh Mehta in the Gujarati language. It was one of the favourite bhajans of Mahatma Gandhi who included it into the roster of prayers routinely sung before his meetings.

Recently, the short film was released by the Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi in Guwahati. The film has been made interweaving Vaishnava Jana To and excerpts from Srimanta Sankaradeva’s Kirtana tuned on the raga and taal of Borgeet of Assam.

Modi recently took part in #ChangeWithin session where he interacted with the members of the creative and entertainment world to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. He appealed to the filmmakers to popularise Gandhi’s ideals through the medium.

Bollywood biggies like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Sonam Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ekta Kapoor, Rajkumar Hirani, Aanand L Rai, Imtiaz Ali among others attended the event, as part of the #ChangeWithin initiative. Assamese singer Pulak Banerjee, who is also the Natasurya Executive President, also attended the event.

Photo: Time8