Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Hurdles before their dream

ON TENTERHOOKS: Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, directors of the Tibetan feature film `Dreaming Lhasa,' at the film festival venue in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. Photo: S. Mahinsha

Waiting for Censor Board clearance to screen Dreaming Lhasa was a traumatic experience for Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, directors of the first internationally acclaimed Tibetan feature film.

The two were on tenterhooks at the venue of the ongoing International Film Festival of Kerala, in which the film was featured for screening in the competition section on Monday evening. The fate of the screening remained uncertain till they got the Board's clearance in the afternoon.

"It is time to amend the censor rules that have become outdated. Securing the Board's clearance was more difficult than completing the film. Such curbs would only dampen the spirit for making good films," Ritu says.

The film portrays the experience of Tibetans in exile. It is an earnest attempt to portray the lives of those who have been destined to live in exile in India for 45 years. The accent is on a generation that yearns to return their homeland.

Those living in Dharmasala, home of the Dalai Lama, are dreaming of Lhasa, says Ritu. Their fate remains uncertain. They are unsure of the prospects of returning to their homeland.

"The film has no objectionable scenes or dialogue that will annoy the Chinese Government. It was shown before the censor authorities and we secured a Universal Adult (UA) certificate. I still don't know why clearance was delayed," she says.

Dreaming Lhasa presents the story of a young woman who grows up in New York City and returns to Dharmasala to make a film on the Tibetan community. She comes across a monk who has escaped from political imprisonment in Tibet. Their sojourn to the fractured past of Tibet becomes a voyage of self-discovery for the woman.

Both Ritu and Tenzing have been making documentaries on various subjects and it was when they did some research on the life of Tibetans that they decided to make a feature film on the subject. Tenzing wrote the script and they together managed to collect Rs. 1.5 crores and completed the film against many odds.

"Being a pioneering effort, except for the technicians, all others were amateurs. Raising the funds was equally trying. There was no State sponsorship and we did not have a specific market to sell the film without songs and other embellishments," Ritu says.

The hurdles thrown up by the Censor Board added to their woes. A fraternity of film professionals, Coalition against Censorship, has taken up the fight against censor rules. The coalition is a body comprising mainly serious filmmakers. Ritu and Tenzing are looking forward to the efforts of the coalition to revamp the rules in favour of committed filmmakers.

N.J. Nair

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