The first look of National-Award winning feature film Kadvi Hawa was unveiled by the United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Environment, Erik Solheim recently. On the occasion, we asked the director and his star cast about their views on environment and climate change, something their movie focuses on. Here’s what they had to say...
If I have to wash hands on the outdoor sets, I go near a tree. I know names of almost every tree and plant. On many occasions, I’ve driven past trees that I had planted a decade ago. All the cities are becoming concrete jungles. Now, we have issues if it rains too much or gets a little too cold or hot for comfort. We have lost several seasons. There’s no chill in December. It’s dangerous. Actors get happy if their films earn 100-200 crores. I will be happy if this film can inspire people to plant a tree. Cinema and theatre have always been mirror to the society and today’s truth is that there’s pollution everywhere.
— Sanjay Mishra
The film has a fabulous story about two lead characters against the backdrop of a conversation on climate change. I didn’t mind playing the bad guy in the film for a larger cause. We see that global issues like economy, job opportunities, terrorism are of more importance than climate change. We need to watch out for this phenomenon. When we vote for our leaders, we must remember climate change should be as big an agenda as job opportunity. I am happy that today parents and schools are all trying to inculcate habits and thinking among kids about conserving the environment.
— Ranvir Shorey
I think people will relate to the characters in the film and it will sensitise people towards the cause. But it’s the individual that counts. Policy makers can’t do much if you and I don’t support them. My husband often frowns at me when he sees there is a plastic bottle in my bag. We have our own bottles, we fill it up and then go to work. When you look at the people languishing in that heat where he shot, it’s hard to remain unmoved. It’s not like images haunt you but it brings in subtle changes. I remember while growing up in Delhi, we faced a lot of water scarcity. We had to take a bath in three mugs of water. So, today even though I live in a place with water 24x7, I still can’t turn a shower on. You can’t lecture people on this, they need to feel first before bringing in these changes.
— Tillotama Shome
For most people, climate change is an issue happening somewhere else. My story aims to tell them that it’s here and it’s happening now. My protagonist is 70 years old who has no contribution to any greenhouse gas emission and yet he is adversely affected by climate change. In a coastal belt in Odisha, I saw a hand-pump inside sea while shooting a documentary in 2005 and the elderly there told me that those hand pumps used to be in the middle of the village. The temperature and sea level are constantly rising. Rivers are drying up. The film hits at the emotional and economical repercussions of climate change. We are asking everyone to conserve the environment.
— Nila Madhab Panda
