People's Film

Aiming at raising money in an unconventional fashion, ID is a rare independent film

A couple of friends share a rented apartment in the bustling city of Mumbai. One fine day, a labourer turns up to paint a wall in their house and minutes later, he falls unconscious on their floor. This is the starting point of the film ID, which tracks the quest of protagonist Charu (one of the room-mates) as she sets out to discover the labourer's identity.

Scripted and directed by Film and Television Institute of India's alumnus Kamal KM, this film is fascinating on many fronts. At one level, the story deals with issues of identity at a time when there's an ever-widening divide between the different strata in the society. "The idea for this film occurred to me when my friend narrated this experience where a labourer working at her house collapsed in the midst of work. This man had no form of identification on him and she didn't know how she'd seek medical help for him. I realised that I was also one of these people, who come to the city in pursuit of a better life," says Kamal, who then got thinking and made this film in September this year within a period of 18 months.

Since then, with its motley cast and crew (led by actor Geetanjali Thapa, who plays Charu), ID has been making waves in the festival circuit including Busan International Film Festival this year and Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Back home, it was screened on Monday (October 22) at Inox, Nariman Point as part of the Mumbai Film Festival.

But what sets this independent film -- with a running time of around 80 minutes -- apart from the rest is the fact that it claims to be a 'bucket film'. Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty, who turns producer with this venture, explains the ambitious concept. "Once this film has done the rounds of cinema festivals, the commercial release will be such that people wouldn't have to buy a ticket at a pre-decided price. The way I see it, the audience should watch the film and pay what they think the film deserves. Accordingly, the plan would be to have buckets placed out the venue to collect the money given out by the viewers," he says, adding that the idea is to reach out to maximum people through the movie.

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