MIFF '10 Interview: Anand Ramayya, Director of Mad Cow Sacred Cow article

Share

Anand Ramayya is a Canada based Indian film maker whose film Mad Cow Sacred Cow had its Indian premiere in Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films. It was screened in the competition section of the festival. This documentary is the film maker’s personal journey who realizes that cow is not only his favourite meal but also the God of his Hindu ancestors and the livelihood of his Canadian in-laws who are small farmers. Mr. Ramayya talks to Nandita Dutta about the Sacred Cows, India and beyond…

 How has the MIFF experience been for you?

MIFF is the first Indian film festival that I have ever attended. My father Ray Ramayya too is a film maker. It’s the first time in two generations that a film from our family is being screened in India. Moreover, MIFF is my chance to update myself with what is going on in the country. It has also given me a platform to interact with the film community in India, something which I had never done before.

Your film making journey began with Cosmic Current in 2004. Why did you suddenly turn towards direction from production of television series?

I always felt that the director was not me, it was somebody else. Then at some point I realized that I had a story to tell and it could be only told by me. Then with my father’s encouragement I got into direction and Cosmic Current happened.

Cosmic Current was about your family’s pilgrimage to Tirupati in India and now Mad Cow Sacred Cow is a bizarre journey of a beef eating Hindu. Why such personal documentaries about reconnecting with your roots?

I am a person who has grown up without knowing anything about my parents’ culture. I have never celebrated Diwali in Canada nor had any Indian friends. So, I felt a strong compulsion to find out about India. For a lot of people like me, there is a point in our lives when we try to figure out who we are and where we come from. I even came on a backpacking trip to India for six months. These are the stories of reconnecting that I like to tell.

Mad Cow Sacred Cow touches upon a variety of issues ranging from cow slaughter and farmer suicides to communalism in India. Was it all planned or it just happened as you went along?

I just came to India with a couple of ideas. My line producer and researcher Farhatullah Beig through his research gave a lot of depth to my understanding of what was happening in India. When we interviewed several people for the film, they shed light on issues that I never knew about. For instance, activist Vandana Shiva told us about farmer suicides and then we decided to incorporate that into our film.

How has your perception of India evolved/changed during the process of the film?

Each time I come to India, my perception of the country changes. Sometimes it is inspiring and sometimes it is heartbreaking. After two months of becoming a father, I had come to India to make this film. I was in a state of emotional vulnerability. Things like Farmers suicides and the Gujarat riots had a huge impact on me at that point. I felt very angry and disappointed when I returned home. All the same, I must say that making the film turned out to be a positive influence. I felt like I was contributing something to the society in my own way. People in Canada would call me and ask if they could do something for the farmers in India. Mr. Beig is helping me to get in touch with the right organizations through which all those people can donate money for the cause.

What are the other projects in the pipeline?

The next film I am working on is also set in India. It is a historical fiction on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

How did you think of this as your subject?

Our research on Gujarat riots for Mad Cow Sacred Cow led us to Ahmadabad in Gujarat. I saw Gandhi’s house there and realized what an irony it was that the riots took place in a city where Gandhi lived. I continued to think about it and it occurred to me to make a film on his assassination.

Being someone who hasn’t stayed in India for long, do you think you will be able to do complete justice to the film?

Certainly not. I am depending for my research on Mr. Beig. It will be a film for the people in India and the people living outside who are interested to know about the history of India.