Films are in his blood, what with father Kumar Mangat Pathak and sister Amita Pathak both being an integral part of the industry.
Films are in his blood, what with father Kumar Mangat Pathak and sister Amita Pathak both being an integral part of the industry. But in spite of all their mainstream Hindi films, Abhishek Pathak chose to take the path less trodden and his debut film as director is a 27-minute documentary, Boond.
“I’m a hardcore Bollywood person but Boond has been very special. When I chanced upon the subject, I knew I had to make it and went on to speak to my father about it. In spite of it being a short documentary, the amount of time and money invested is equal to any feature film,” he informs.
Boond is set in the future and is about a small Indian village, which has just one well left. This well is closely guarded by a widow and her son, who doesn’t think twice before firing a few bullets into anyone who comes close to the well.
“Water is something that we take for granted now and don’t really understand its value. But the time’s not far when water scarcity will actually make people kill each other without batting an eyelid,” Abhishek says. Boond was shot in Kutch over four days with a crew of about 60 people.
While Abhishek is not looking at a theatrical release for all practical purposes, the film has already travelled to a host of national and international film festivals and won itself about 30 awards.
“It was also screened at IFFI, Goa last year and was the opening film at the Indian Panorama. But the icing on the cake would definitely be a National Award for Best Short Fiction this year,” he says, adding, “When we made the film, we knew it wasn’t meant for an Indian theatrical release. Expecting the audience to buy tickets for a 27-minute film is not fair.”
Having grown up in a family where the box office has played a vital role, Abhishek, who has studied film-making in USA is looking for alternate mediums for his film’s release. “Of course, there are lots of avenues to be explored — websites where you can distribute the film to be downloaded, ships, flights, DVD etc.,” he signs off.
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