Documentaries that break the mould can reach wider audiences: Pata Lapata director Aditya Bhasin

Beginning with a striking montage of alternating images of urban Delhi and the capital's underbelly, Aditya Bhasin's award-winning docudrama Pata Lapata, that explores the life of children living in Delhi's slums, was screened in India for the first time at Amity University Noida. The film unfolds like a book, incorporating themes like inequity, gender, identity, education and safety in Delhi slums.

The film, that won Aditya the Best Director (Documentary) at Cannes World Film Festival recently, was a sociological enquiry into the Delhi that is usually lapata, unaddressed.

The Amity alumnus, class of 2017, was grateful to be back at his alma mater and said, "I dedicate the Cannes Best Director (Documentary) award to my entire team, my parents and the University. My first visit to Kirby Place slum filled me with two emotions, gratitude for where I was born and empathy towards the children. I didn't choose the story, the story chose me," adding, "With this docudrama - which captures many moments of truth stringed together by a fictitious character Benaam and his voice - we intend to raise questions and garner the attention of the non-documentary watching audiences also."

The film explores the work NGO Lakshyam has been doing to uplift and educate these children. Rashi Anand, founder of Lakshyam and producer of the film, said, "A documentary was always on our vision board, but I didn't know that it will materialise this fast. I hope the film reaches the stakeholders and benefits the children and the community at large."

"Filmmakers today are encouraged to make more documentaries because of the widely acclaimed documentaries like The Elephant Whisperers and All That Breathes. But they are still finding their way. I feel, platforms need to be more encouraging. Breaking the stereotypical mould of documentaries, so that they don't remain liner or too serious, can help reaching wider audiences. Benaam, a fictitious character in the film, was my tool to tell the story with a pinch of satire and humour and make the film more engaging," said Aditya.

Applauding Aditya for his achievement, Dr Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University, said, "What an absolutely touching experience. We are here to celebrate what our student Aditya has done and achieved. For many of us, it comes as a shock to see the plight of young boys and girls, living so close to us."