Baromas
(Forever)
Hindi, 35mm cinemascope, Drama
Duration- 110
minutesAbout the film:
Agriculture and fishing remain the primary sources of livelihood for majority of people in rural India. However, there is a huge economic disparity with the haves and have-nots, worsened by government policies.
Baromas (month after month; year after year or forever) is based on a National award winning novel and tells the story of two brothers, against the backdrop of an agrarian society. Both are educated and jobless; and find it difficult to sustain the hardships faced by the village – be it the truant weather, corrupt bureaucracy, money lenders and power brokers who thrive in such an ecosystem. They take the system head-on in entirely contrasting styles. One takes to banditry to take on the men behind this misery; while the other takes a strong political posture to weed out the power brokers. In the end, there is hope as the enlightened villagers find answers to their issues, democratically.
Shot in Vidarbha, India with Graduates of Film & Television Institute of India and National School of Drama and local actors of amateur theatre from Vidarbha region, in Maharashtra, India (which was the news lately for farmer suicides), BAROMAS is an attempt to visit rural India by touching larger issues of corruption, unemployment and farmers' suicides amidst harsh socio-economic conditions through the story of one family. It portrays harsh reality of issues faced by the farmers in an honest and unexaggerated manner.
Baromas tells the story of a village where the farmer's son does not want to enter farming, because of huge uncertainties. It talks about development that deprives the fishermen of their rights to fish in their rivers. It also talks about unemployment driving the educated youth to crime.
BAROMAS is based on a novel in Marathi, of the same which was awarded highest literary honour of the country- Sahitya Academy award in 2004
Cast
& Crew
Crew:
Background Music: Rahul Ranade,Saurabh BhaleraoLyrics and Music: Ravindra Jain
Choreography: Saroj Khan
Action: P.K.Swain
Production Design: Saugoto Mondol
Sound Design: Anmol Bhave
Editing: Navnita Sen Datta
Cinematography: Tapan Vyas
Story&Dialogues: Sadanand Deshmukh, Dhiraj Meshram
Screenplay&Direction: Dhiraj Meshram
Produced by: Pallippuram Sajith, Priyanka Sood
Cast:
Seema Biswas
Benjamin Gilani
Subrat Dutta
Devika Daftardar
Jatin Goswami
Sudhir Pandey
Habib Aazmi
Bachan Pachera
Rohit Pathak
Alok Chaturvedi
Shashi Bhushan
Gajanan Bind
Director's
comments on Baromas (Forever)
Dhiraj Meshram, Associate Professor at FTII, Pune
Baromas uses the plight of farmers in Vidarbha as the backdrop and dwells on the problems of the educated unemployed from the region. This is a Hindi screen adaptation of Sadanand Deshmukh’s Sahitya Akademi award-winning Marathi novel of the same name. It stars Seema Biswas, Benjamin Gilani, Jatin Goswami and Subrat Dutta in key roles.
I was born and brought up in the Vidarbh region, untouched by the developments that we see now. The lifeline of my home town is agriculture. I spent my young days in these farms, seeing the plight of the farmer from close quarters. I also saw some of the reasons behind this state of affairs: be it exploitation by the middle-men, money lenders or politicians. Then there were added issues like illiteracy and superstitions.
I would probably the first person from my region to join the prestigious Film and TV institute of India in Pune. When it was time for me to make my own film, I chose to return to my roots. My decision to adapt the book dates back to 2005 when I first read the novel. Even though Amravati is the more prosperous part of Vidarbha, characters from the book are similar to people I have come across. Besides, the plight of farmers is not limited to this region alone.
While penning the script, however, I used my exposure of mainstream cinema. The book’s protagonist is the elder son of a farmer. Both he and his brother are educated but unemployed and decide to take up farming. But the monsoon plays truant and the family finds itself faced with poverty and a suicide.
I have underplayed the farmer suicide issue because that somehow sensationalizes the real problems. Instead, I have used the agrarian society as a backdrop and focused on the story of the two brothers, who take on the issues in drastically contrasting styles. While Baromas is the story of a farmer and his family, entwined with conflicts, confusions and (also) compassion, it looks at a much larger picture. Farming as a trade has become so uncertain that the new generation seldom embraces this. A framer’s son does not want to be a farmer, given a chance. Farmers want their towns to embrace industrialization, giving way for the land to be converted. Has the so called green revolution failed, in these modern days of rapid growth? What will happen to our food security?
More often, the farmer’s suicide is sensationalized by the media or political movements for short term goals and effects. We as a Nation have failed to understand the plight of the farmer who feeds us.
I have tried to make Baromas a matter-of-fact, honest film on Indian villages and the people who live there, confused about their future – more than ever.
Dhiraj Meshram, Associate Professor at FTII, Pune
Baromas uses the plight of farmers in Vidarbha as the backdrop and dwells on the problems of the educated unemployed from the region. This is a Hindi screen adaptation of Sadanand Deshmukh’s Sahitya Akademi award-winning Marathi novel of the same name. It stars Seema Biswas, Benjamin Gilani, Jatin Goswami and Subrat Dutta in key roles.
I was born and brought up in the Vidarbh region, untouched by the developments that we see now. The lifeline of my home town is agriculture. I spent my young days in these farms, seeing the plight of the farmer from close quarters. I also saw some of the reasons behind this state of affairs: be it exploitation by the middle-men, money lenders or politicians. Then there were added issues like illiteracy and superstitions.
I would probably the first person from my region to join the prestigious Film and TV institute of India in Pune. When it was time for me to make my own film, I chose to return to my roots. My decision to adapt the book dates back to 2005 when I first read the novel. Even though Amravati is the more prosperous part of Vidarbha, characters from the book are similar to people I have come across. Besides, the plight of farmers is not limited to this region alone.
While penning the script, however, I used my exposure of mainstream cinema. The book’s protagonist is the elder son of a farmer. Both he and his brother are educated but unemployed and decide to take up farming. But the monsoon plays truant and the family finds itself faced with poverty and a suicide.
I have underplayed the farmer suicide issue because that somehow sensationalizes the real problems. Instead, I have used the agrarian society as a backdrop and focused on the story of the two brothers, who take on the issues in drastically contrasting styles. While Baromas is the story of a farmer and his family, entwined with conflicts, confusions and (also) compassion, it looks at a much larger picture. Farming as a trade has become so uncertain that the new generation seldom embraces this. A framer’s son does not want to be a farmer, given a chance. Farmers want their towns to embrace industrialization, giving way for the land to be converted. Has the so called green revolution failed, in these modern days of rapid growth? What will happen to our food security?
More often, the farmer’s suicide is sensationalized by the media or political movements for short term goals and effects. We as a Nation have failed to understand the plight of the farmer who feeds us.
I have tried to make Baromas a matter-of-fact, honest film on Indian villages and the people who live there, confused about their future – more than ever.
