THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024
Ajit John
The State's creative talent keeps coming to the fore at regular intervals. This time, it is the writer of the country’s only representative at the Venice Film Festival, which came to an end on September 9. The writer, Swapnil Salkar or Agadbumb as he likes to call himself collaborated with Karan Tejpal and Gaurav Dhingra and presented ‘Stolen’, an intense and gripping film that holds one's attention. Skilful editing ensures an adrenaline -pumping cinematic experience.
The film begins in the wee hours of a cold morning at a railway station in remote rural India. A five month old baby is stolen from the clutches of her mother, Jhumpa Mahato, an impoverished tribal woman. Two brothers, Gautam and Raman, both urbane young men, witness the kidnapping. Their already tenuous relationship is further tested while trying to help her when they become embroiled in the complexities of the investigation.
This is a movie that took Swapnil and colleagues a couple of years to write. This, he said, was normal in the film industry. This time, however, they were helped if one could call it that, by the wave of the pandemic that swept the country. Swapnil is mostly based in Mumbai and Delhi and works as a content consultant and writer for Jungle Book Studio. This company produces all the episodes of the Amazing Race in India. They have been nominated for the Emmy Awards too. ‘Stolen’ had a local co-producer from Germany.
For Swapnil Salkar, it has been quite a journey from his days when he was studying for MBBS. He says that when he was growing up, he wanted to be like his father, a cancer surgeon. A good student, he qualified and made it into the medical college. The college he was in, had a very active creative side with a band and other avenues to let one’s creative juices flow. He became part of the band and it was here, that he came to the realisation that he did not want to be like his father.
Swapnil says, “My father has great passion for his job. He wakes up early in the morning and works till pretty late in the night and usually comes home by 10.30 pm-11 pm. I realised I would love to do whatever I was doing, be it writing plays, poems and that was very helpful.”
His family loves watching movies. They would travel to Belgaum and watch movies over a weekend. In Goa, prior to the establishment of the big cinema chain in the state, this visit to the neighbouring state was a regular monthly affair. During his final year internship, he had to decide between becoming a doctor and writing. He realised he had to focus on one and not both. He said there were some who could afford to do something like this but not him. He however, said on set, he was called doctor saheb even when he was the youngest on the set at 23 or 24.
Going back to the movie, he says they received a standing ovation from the audience in Venice. “The response from the local media was enthusiastic. The population generally are much attuned to cinema, they understood movies from other cultures were trying to say. I hope a similar reaction would be forthcoming from the Indian audience,” says Swapnil. He was unable to provide a date as to its premiere in India but said he would leave it to the marketing department to make that decision.
Like any hard working professional, he is already working on a slew of other projects for his studio. He says that a project could take either six months or even two years. Like any Goenkar living outside the state, he wishes to return to Goa and make a Konkani film. He admitted it would be a challenge considering the distribution of films in the state was so difficult. That would, of course, take a couple of years but for now he is focused on the projects he is currently working on.
One can only wish all his dreams come true and the movie ‘Stolen’ catches the attention of the masses.
