Kolkata :
The day the makers of the documentary ‘Born Into Brothels’ thrust a camera in the hands of young Avijit Halder, little did he know it would change his life, propelling him to Oscars glory and land him on the sets of a Hollywood film. Ten years on, he is a green-card holder in the US, armed with a degree from New York University, with his name on the Donald Sutherland-starrer ‘Basmati Blues’ credit list.
Back in Kolkata on a ‘break’, he has just finished scripting a short film on life in the brothels while mentoring his younger co-actor in the art of photography. “I have no reason to shift from Sonagachhi. It’s my home,” he says.
Halder’s journey started when he caught public attention with the photographs he took for the documentary — snippets of life in Sonagachhi, his own house. The documentary-makers had set up a charity, ‘Kids With Cameras’, to help Halder and the other children pursue an education. Photography exhibitions were held in several locations including Kolkata, New York and Europe. “A fund was set up from the photos we sold in the exhibitions. I was told several prints of my photos were bought as souvenirs of the docu-film. That paid for my education as well as my trips to my home,” he told TOI.
On Monday, Halder revealed that he has just finished writing a script, which is an account of a Sonagachhi “insider”. He said: “Every film or documentation on the brothels depicts it as a place of doom, trafficking, political equations. But I have explored how the brothel residents see the society outside. Personally, I can say whenever I return to the place, there is visible negativity as some believe they are being exploited with the lens. So I first live there for a month, get myself accepted and then people don’t notice the camera.” Halder’s grandmom still lives there and when asked if he considered moving her elsewhere, he replied: “Why
would I? I see no reason. It’s my home.”
Halder is mentoring another boy from the documentary, Manik Das, who is in the final year of BCom, into the world of photography. Das, along with his siblings and some of the other children were adopted by a city NGO. “There were initially eight children and we were joined by one more. Barring a couple, we are all in touch with each other,” said Das.
What about his future plans? “I’d love to come to Kolkata and make films. The evolution of the red-light area fascinates me. Now there are much less crowd and lot more cellphones. Talks revolve around ‘miss calls’ and ringtones. But what is really striking is the brothel, one of the most liberal places in the world, is deeply conservative in its core.”
He is travelling back and forth two continents. This time he has brought his girlfriend Marcia along, but he says he’s not yet “there”. And he has no illusion of playing a saviour for children with his history. “I’m merely trying to be a role model so that the kids like me look at me and believe in themselves,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Shounak Ghosal, TNN / October 21st, 2014