How much impact can a person have on another human being? The connection that MV Ramani felt with Bhanumati Rao was strong enough to make him realise that he should do a documentary film on her life. A film that took five year, across two cities and a page right out of the film, ‘50 First Dates’. With her memory issue, Ramani had to introduce himself every time before he would begin shooting but he loved the experience.
“I didn’t know this person at all. Maya Krishna Rao is a great friend of mine who was living in Delhi and she was helping me organise a screening of my film in Noida. She invited me home for a cup of tea and to take a taxi from her place to Noida. Just then her mother, Bhanumati, walked into the room and sat next to me and held my hand. I felt very connected and I didn’t feel like letting go of her hand. I knew I wanted to make a film on her. I didn’t know anything about her background but I needed the support of the family to make the film as she was an elderly lady in her 90s. Gradually, the film progressed for 4-5 years and then I gave it a narrative structure,” says MV Ramani, an award-winning filmmaker, cinematographer and a lecturer on filmmaking at Dr B R Ambedkar University Delhi.
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He further adds, “She had memory issue and she will not remember you the next time you go to her but I took it in my stride. It was a series of being with her, it would be a new shade for her and one scene is done for me. The fact that she couldn’t remember also became a path of the narrative. I didn’t take it as a problem but as an advantage for me, it actually freed from the rigid structure of narratives.” Ramani used different film formats to shoot as well from DV, mini DV, HDV, HD, 4K and even mobile phone footage. ‘It was largely me alone shooting most part of the film but the size of the cameras decides the crew. I sometimes even took my friend, Ashish Pandey, a sound recordist when required. The notion of intimacy became the main subject that I am seeking and reaching it through the film,” says Ramani.
Ramani was working on more films, initially in Delhi and then moved to Bangalore when Bhanumati went to live with her second daughter. “There is a certain charge in all of them, Bhanumati, Maya and Tara. All three are very strong characters in the film and I felt it was a privilege to spend time with all of them and create the film,” says Ramani with a smile as he informs that Maya, a contemporary solo theatre practitioner now lives in Goa.
While the film did go on to win Best Direction as a non-feature film at the 68th National Award and the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award with Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking, it didn’t connect with Bhanumati. A special screening was organised first for her at her home by her daughter, Tara Rao, a human rights campaigner in Bengaluru. “She didn’t connect with the film at all. She was so happy and she gave me hi-fi but she really confused me. That moment was startling and confusing for me, she was blank, and she was not interested. We also had a houseful show in Bengaluru, but it was the same experience. She sat in the front row with her daughter going over the film with her but there was no interest. She was polite to the audience,” explains Ramani. Bhanumati Rao passed away in 2022.
Speaking about the National award, Ramani says, “National award gives recognition but unlike feature films where the actors will be flooded with film offers, in documentaries, it doesn’t happen like that. People are not waiting to support you after the documentary. The film does get recognition and I have been screening the film in a much more strong way. I am doing all these screenings in alternate spaces as I am promoting it as a film that won a National Award. That way viewers also take it seriously. The film is working well with the audience. It doesn’t help me in any major way, financially.”
The film, ‘Oh That’s Bhanu’ will be screened followed by a discussion at Cinephile Film Club, Maquinez Palace, Panjim on March 9 at 6.30 pm and at Carpe Diem – Majorda on March 11 at 6.30 pm. The film will be screened in the presence of the director, RV Ramani and artist Maya Krishna Rao, who features in the film. “The film is going great with the audience. With the Goan audience, it is going to be a long and interesting discussion,” concludes Ramani.
