Captured in reel: The lives of the Bangalore Metro workers

They sweat, toil 24X7, with paltry salaries, and often risk their lives to fulfill Bangalore’s desire to have its grand Metro rail project, set to be inaugurated on April 4.

The daily struggle and turmoil of thousands of Metro construction workers of Bangalore has come into life in a documentary film titled Behind the Tin Sheets. The film made by Ekta Mittal and Yashaswini Raghunandan, covering the journey of the Metro workers for last two years, is set to be completed by May.

“The film is a tribute to thousands of metro workers who have been toiling day in and day out to make metro rail project a reality,” says Ekta, co-founder of Maraa, a media collective in Bangalore.

Her work is in the area of community radio, theatre, research and film-making. Ekta is also part of Masrah, a Bangalore based theatre group and recently acted in Middle of Somewhere.

“The film is a journey of the workers, most of whom are migrant labourers, and we have been following them for last two years,” added Ekta.

Along with portraying the daily rigours of workers, the film has also attempted to bring into light various aspects of the labourers like stories about their love, native villages, political preferences, and superstitions.

In the backdrop of a construction site, a labourer, who has not identified himself, narrated his tryst with “ghosts”, in his village forest. “I have myself seen ghosts, four to five times. Not everybody can see ghosts, however, few can,” said the man in his early 20s, in Hindi.

Another worker recalled the night when he met a woman, while he was sleeping near a construction site, after his day’s work.

“The idea of the film is to experience the city through the eyes of a migrant worker in a city, to create space for alternative discourse on cities and urban redevelopment,” says documentary film-maker Yashaswini.

Most of the workers engaged in metro construction are from West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, north Karnataka,Punjab, Orissa, Nepal and Andhra Pradesh.

These labourers work more than 12 hours a day. Till date around 10 workers have died and nearly 30 accidents have occurred in various metro construction sites.

According to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), currently, an estimated 4,000 workers are camped in nearly 35 camps at various sites in the city.

“It’s a hard life for us. I work around 12 hours everyday. I have left my home in Orissa, to work and earn money for my family. Back home we have no jobs. Somehow, every month I manage to send Rs 4,000 to my parents,” said Chandru, a 22-year-old worker at MG Road site. The film makers said that each worker has a heart rendering story to tell.

However, the makers of the film themselves have run short of money and need some funds to finish the post-production of the film.

The film was initially supported by the Centre for Media and Culture Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. “We won a fellowship from the Centre for Media and Culture Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, who supported the production of the film to some extent. However, we have run out of money to edit the film,” said Ekta.

In an effort to raise funds to help them complete the film, the filmmakers are organizing a “Garage Sale”, featuring books, paintings, CDs, DVDs, t-shirts and many other knick-knacks.

The items in the sale have been contributed by people who want to support the fund raising effort. The sale will be hosted at Variety Book House, Next to KC Das, Church Street, 4pm to 8pm on March 26.