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Documentary Films

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  1. Idiot Box or Window of Hope (2003) is a documentary film on the social responsibilities (or absence of them) of television channels in India that was broadcast by Doordarshan (Main) in March 2004. 
  2. Grabbing Eyeballs: What’s Unethical About Television News in India (2007) was broadcast by Doordarshan in August 2007. The documentary film highlights instances when truth became a casualty for television news broadcasters and introspects whether self-regulation can help improve ethical standards of such broadcasters.
  3. Advertorial: Selling News or Products? (2009), also broadcast by Doordarshan in November 2009, examines the “commodification” of news and how commercial considerations have adversely impacted democratic ideals of objective journalism.
  4. Freedom Song (2012), a documentary film co-directed with Subi Chaturvedi, explores the idea of individual and collective freedom of speech and expression in contemporary India. All the above-mentioned four films were produced by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) and available for free viewing on YouTube.
  5. Hot As Hell: A Profile of Dhanbad (2006-07), is a documentary film in five half-hour parts directed and part-produced by him in partnership with the PSBT. The film explains why underground fires – literally and metaphorically – are raging for so many years in and around the township of Jharia in Dhanbad district in Jharkhand, one of India’s oldest coal mining areas and a major dot on the global map for fossil fuels. At a literal level, tens of thousands of residents of the town are living on top of a veritable inferno. At a metaphorical level, there are powerful mafia organisations that rule over this region – by bagging contracts, running extortion rackets, supervising organised pilferage of coal, and exploiting the underprivileged in a variety of ways. The first part of the film “Jharia’s Underground Fires” provides a historical backdrop to coal mining in the area, the second part is titled: “Most Polluted Place on Planet Earth”, the third: “Long Arm of the Law”, the fourth: “Dhanbad’s Dons” and the fifth: “Resource Curse.” The series was one of the films nominated for screening in the “livelihood” category at the Vatavaran Documentary Film Festival that took place in New Delhi in September 2007. A one-hour version of the film titled: “Inferno: Jharia’s Underground Fires” was broadcast in two parts on Doordarshan (National) and Doordarshan News in April and May 2007. A short, 22-minute version of the film was also shown on NDTV. A 72-minute version of the film was also made. The different versions of the film are available for free viewing on YouTube.
  6. Blood & Iron: A Story of the Convergence of Crime, Business and Politics in Southern India (2010-11) is a documentary film in three overlapping haf-hour segments which highlights the political, economic, and ecological consequences of illegal iron ore mining in and around the Ballari (Bellary) district of Karnataka and Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Different versions of the film have been broadcast on television channels in five languages, English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. The first part of the series titled “New Republic of Bellary,” is on the promoters of privately-owned mining companies in Bellary/Ananthapur, who used to fund the activities of political leaders in the past, and are today important politicians themselves. Among them are the Gali Reddy brothers who held ministerial positions in the B S Yeddyurappa-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka. The second part of the film titled “Red Gold” highlights the economics of iron ore mining and exports from the region that has immensely enriched a small section of people even as there has not been any substantial improvement in the lives of the ordinary people who live in the area. The biggest beneficiary of the export of iron ore ‘fines’ from the region has been China. The third part of the film titled “Red Earth” highlights how iron ore mining, much of it illegal, has resulted in lopsided development in Bellary and Ananthapur. While mining has created a nouveau riche class in the region who ride helicopters and luxury cars, large sections of the population there are living in abject poverty. How did the Reddy brothers from Bellary, the sons of a police constable, become so wealthy and politically powerful? How did they successfully subvert the system of administration or governance and even the judiciary? Is the power of money so pervasive? How did the loot from Bellary and Ananthapur covertly fund two of the largest political parties in India? The film seeks to provides answers to these questions. Based on interviews with a wide range of individuals, the film juxtaposes their comments and observations with music and songs and clips from popular cinema to document a story of greed and devastation. An updated version of the film and a book on the subject is under production.
  7. The Great Indian Telecom Robbery (2011) is a documentary that examines the 2G (second-generation) spectrum scandal. The scam, that had a political fallout, was related to the manner in which finite and scarce electro-magnetic spectrum used by privately-owned mobile telecommunications companies was priced and allocated in a non-transparent manner. The producer and director of the film was one of the petitioners in the case that led to the cancellation of 122 licences by the Supreme Court of India in February 2012. The film is available for free viewing on YouTube.
  8. A Thin Dividing Line (2013) is a documentary on the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty. Tax havens or low tax jurisdictions blur the dividing line between legal forms of tax avoidance, euphemistically called tax planning, and illegal forms of tax evasion or money laundering. The film, financially supported by two civil society organisations, the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability and Christian Aid, formed the basis of a book published by Penguin Random House in December 2017. The film is available for free viewing on YouTube.
  9. Coal Curse: A documentary on the Political Economy of Coal Energy in India (2013), in English and Hindi (Koyla Yaa Kala Shaanp) supported by Greenpeace India. The film explores the political economy of coal in contemporary India with the situation in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, as a case study. It highlights the scandal, popularly called Coalgate, and the consequences of coal mining. It raises questions as to whether the rush to extract for coal is the best answer to secure India’s energy needs. The English and Hindi versions of the film are both available for free viewing on YouTube.
  10. In the Heart of Our Darkness: The Life and Death of Mahendra Karma (2013) is a documentary film on the tribal leader from Chhattisgarh Mahendra Karma, who was murdered on 26 May 2013. The title of the film is taken from Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad’s 1902 novel, that remains relevant in contemporary India. The film is about a region of great natural wealth and about a man, a controversial leader of tribal communities, who was brutally killed. A short version of the documentary film was broadcast on the NDTV television channel. The film is available for free viewing on YouTube.
  11. Childhood in Crossfire (2013) is a documentary co-directed with Mohuya Chaudhury for Save the Children, the non-government organisation. The film is about how children in certain parts of central and eastern India fight themselves trapped in between armed para-military forces and left-wing extremists.
  12. Farzi: Vyapam Ka Vyapar (2018) is a 35-minute-long documentary film in Hindi for the Newsclick portal on the cover-up of India’s biggest medical education scandal in Madhya Pradesh which was unearthed in 2013. The film is available for free viewing on YouTube.
  13. India’s Children: Gorakhpur’s Broken Public Health System (2019) is a 25-minute-long documentary film in English and Hindi co-produced with Shweta Bajaj. It received financial support from Oxfam India. Both versions of the film are available for free viewing on YouTube.
  14. Anand Vihar: Workers on the Longest Walk of their Lives (2020): A mini documentary on migrant workers who left the National Capital Territory after the lockdown announced on March 24, 2020.
  15. What Bengal Thinks Today (2021): The outcome of the assembly elections in West Bengal, which was declared on May 2, 2021, had a profound impact on the political future of India. This 22-minute documentary film was put together in March-April 2021, after speaking to a cross-section of individuals – representatives of political parties, civil society organisations, scholars, journalists, and creative artists – cutting across ideological lines. The film’s co-producer and co-director is Mithun Pramanik. The main language of the film is Bengali (with English subtitles).
  16. A series of short videos and interviews with scholars and politicians were produced in collaboration with Mithun Pramanik during the run-up to the 2021 assembly elections in Bengal. Some of the videos were titled Profit Over People: The Ventilator Scam in the Age of Covid, Plassey 2021, New Coffee House, Clash of Cultures, What Does ‘Jai Shri Ram’ Mean in Bengal?