Shekhar Kapur’s “Paani”

Paani means Water, which many of us take for granted, our most precious resource worth more than gold and diamonds together, takes center-stage in the utopian tale of “Paani”, Shekhar Kapur’s new cinematic (ad)venture. We heard about it way back in 2010. Rumors had it that Hrithik Roshan was playing the lead role. But we hear now it has been assigned to Sushant Singh Rajput, tant bien.

Wars have been and are being fought over water since centuries. Ever since we started dividing fertile lands. Cities are built around bodies of water. Colonizing any part of the world had to do with retaining and maximizing water resources. Our bodies are made of mainly water. Without water there wouldn’t be any human history, period.

Why are we so wasteful and careless with this greatest of all resources? Polluting industries, household chemicals,  farming practices are all culprits; the toxic chemicals, we pollute our earth with,  sooner or later will backfire, either through natural progression and their cumulative effects or acts of terrorism and war that are going to target water supplies directly or indirectly. It looks like we are doomed.Deep inside us lives that fear, even though we carry on in blissful denial.

Of all our bills, our water bill is the most modest monthly deduction. I consider myself very lucky having unlimited access. Do you?  You probably will, too, after watching Shekhar Kapur’s upcoming movie, which takes place in the future in a world doomed by water shortages. A war is triggered – in good archaic style, by two young lovers.

I hope with this movie, ShekharKapur is going to rattle our consciousness as he did 1994 with Bandit Queen, a movie etched into the memory of anyone who has seen it. Paani is going to be a movie opening on a grand scheme for sure, set to be released in IMAX theaters across the country, promising us to feel its heartbeat like we haven’t experienced it before in Indian film.

Please, Mr. Shekhar, don’t relegate the water issue into a background score, though. I am already glad, in a way,  to hear Hrithik Roshan is not going to be the main lead, cuz this would turn Paani into just another Hrithik-movie and its message would probably get ‘lost in romance’, or action or both. By signing a younger, less famous actor the focus will hopefully be the story itself, its focus on What IF….

 

 

Read up on Shekhar Kapur’s extraordinary filmography:

Shekhar Kapur bio and filmography