March 14, 2017
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah says documentary cinema has the power to
bring about a change in the society.
The actor was present here on
Wednesday, along with eminent filmmakers like Nandita Das, Rajkumar Hirani and
Rahul Dholakia, on a panel discussion hosted by the Indian Documentary
Foundation.
Sharing his viewpoint, Naseer said: "I think I started
watching some of the good documentaries when I went to FTII, Pune... Though I
have been part of many films that addressed social issues and with the intention
of bringing change in society, I think I have understood that documentary films
can bring a change in our society."
"They used to run documentary films
before every feature film and they were so boring that people used to reach the
cinema theatres late. They have done more harm to documentary films. Common
people have the notion that documentaries are boring.
"However, (after)
watching some of the international documentaries along with some made by Shyam
Benegal, Mani Kaul, I realised their importance," he added.
The panel
discussion was conducted by Javed Jaffri, actor and co-founder of Good Pitch
India, a non-profit organisation that support documentary filmmakers. They also
launched a campaign called #FILMSFORCHANGE.
Good Pitch India has also
selected four socially-relevant documentary films -- "Climbing Uphill", "Her
Song", "#MISSINGGIRLS" and "Writing With Fire", whose filmmakers will be
introduced to corporate companies, NGOs, campaigners, philanthropists, etc., at
an event.
The event will take place at National Centre of Performing Arts
(NCPA) on April 4, and will be moderated by Kiran Rao.