Fascinated by the men who chase rats for a living in Mumbai, filmmaker Miriam Chandy Menacherry decided to document their lives. And, on April 10, Rat Race, a film on the city’s 30 night rat killers, will be one of the six films to be pitched to a Cannes jury at the MIPDoc Co Production challenge.
The Co-Production Challenge is an international pitching competition for makers of documentary and factual programmes.
Those chosen will get a chance to present their final pitches before an audience of buyers, producers and distributors. Menacherry’s Rat Race will slug it out with entries from Czech Republic, France, UK and New York. “This forum is like a bridge between filmmakers and broadcasters. You can get funds, resources, post production help which helps us bring out a polished film,” says Menacherry.
For Menacherry, 35, director of the production house Filament Pictures, the rat killers are a reflection of the city. “This is a story of the survival instinct of the city, the need to go out and earn a living,” says this former journalist, who has been working on the documentary for eight months.
The Rat Race is based on research and paper clippings about the BMC’s rat killers. From shooting during Ganpati Visarjan in blinding rain to the crew getting arrested, the film is a fascinating work in progress. “Some of these rat killers have to worship the mushak (rat) during the day, but at night they go out and kill them,” she says, adding that many of them face opposition from society for their work.
The rat killers report to a supervisor, who for the last 37 years, has kept a daily log of the number of rats caught and killed. “Till date, 2.8 million rats have been killed and 1,14,000 have been given to the Haffkine Institute for studies,” says Menacherry.
The rat killers work from Dadar onwards towards the south. The daily quota is 30 rats, even 29 won’t do. Those who can’t make the daily quota are given two days to catch up or their pay is cut.
“They have a recruitment drive to enlist people. Last year, 2,000 showed up, many of them graduates and post graduates,” Menacherry says.
