Pankaj Butalia

{{short description|Indian documentary filmmaker}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Pankaj Butalia | image =  | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 1950 | birth_place = Ambala, Haryana, India | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | alma_mater = University of Delhi | other_names = | known_for = ''Moksha'', ''Karvaan'' | relatives = Urvashi Butalia | occupation = Filmmaker }} '''Pankaj Butalia''' is an Indian documentary filmmaker. His 1993 film ''Moksha'' (also known by the English title ''Salvation''), on the widows of Vrindavan, received four international awards.<ref name="moksha">{{cite web|title=Moksha|url=http://www.ucfilms.in/subject/gender/moksha|accessdate=15 January 2013}}</ref> Several of his films have been screened extensively throughout the world.<ref name="psbt">{{cite web|title=PANKAJ BUTALIA - Public Service Broadcasting Trust|url=http://www.psbt.org/directors/273|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601050455/http://www.psbt.org/directors/273|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 June 2015|website=psbt.org (archived)|accessdate=13 March 2018}}</ref> He has also directed a feature film ''Karvaan'' (1999), starring Naseeruddin Shah.

==Early life== Butalia was born in Ambala, Haryana, in 1950, to Joginder Singh and Subhadra Butalia. Feminist author and publisher Urvashi Butalia is his sister. He studied at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and was a national level table tennis player.<ref name=ucfilms>{{cite web|title=Pankaj Butalia {{!}} Under Construction - UC Films|url=http://www.ucfilms.in/category/director/pankaj-butalia/|accessdate=30 January 2013}}</ref> After obtaining his master's degree, he taught economics at Delhi University for many years before making his first film.<ref name="chaosmag">{{cite web|title=Chaosmag Database: Pankaj Butalia|url=http://www.chaosmag.in/pankaj.html|accessdate=15 January 2013}}</ref>

==Film society work== When still a student, Butalia co-founded the film society Celluloid. Subsequently, he became active in the Film Society movement at the national level, and held the post of secretary of the Federation of Film Societies of India for eight years. He was assigned the responsibility of organising the documentary section of the International Film Festival of India during 1986–88.<ref name=chaosmag />

==Career as filmmaker== Butalia started his career as a filmmaker with ''When Hamlet went to Mizoram'' (1990), on the way Shakespeare's Hamlet has become part of popular culture in the North-Eastern Indian state of Mizoram. After its favourable critical reception he quit his teaching job to become a full-time filmmaker.

===''Moksha''=== Butalia's second film ''Moksha'' (1993) (not to be confused with the 2001 feature film of the same name) was on the plight of Bengali widows in Vrindavan. Abandoned by their families, they are doomed to a life of penury. The film attracted considerable attention, winning four international awards.<ref name="moksha" /> The review on the official website of the San Francisco Film Festival says: "Pankaj Butalia’s Salvation brings such individuality and clarity to its portrayal of the lives of Bengali widows that it achieves that all-too-rare balance between advocacy and cinema. Through a series of candid interviews, generous observational footage and a lush, poetic narration, the film makes the point that Indian society, right or wrong, simply does not have a place for these women." It adds: "Salvation is a testament to the power of human will and human dignity."<ref name="sffi">{{cite web|title=Salvation {{!}} San Francisco Film Festival|url=http://history.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=4338|accessdate=18 January 2013}}</ref> Cinematographer Piyush Shah received the National Award for Best Cinematography for "documenting a tragic reality with all its moods and emotions".<ref name="41stawardPDF">{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/41st_nff_1994.pdf|title=41st National Film Awards|publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals|accessdate=31 January 2013}}</ref>

===''Karvaan''=== In 1999 Butalia directed his first, and to date only, feature film ''Karvaan'', starring Naseeruddin Shah and Kitu Gidwani. Also known by the English title ''Shadows in the Dark'', the film deals with the Partition of India and its aftermath in both India and Pakistan. It won a special mention at the Amiens International Film Festival,<ref>{{cite web|title=Amiens International Film Festival (1999)|website=IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000023/1999|accessdate=16 January 2013}}</ref> and was screened at the Venice and Rotterdam film festivals.<ref name=FOSA>{{cite web|title=Friends of South Asia (FOSA)|url=http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/events/karvaan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031030110400/http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/events/karvaan/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=30 October 2003|accessdate=16 January 2013}}</ref>

===The Great Arc films=== Butalia made two short films in 2003, both dealing with surveying in British India. In the 1860s, the British trained Indian surveyors to disguise themselves, enter Tibet and carry on surveys incognito. Over the next twenty years, many Indian surveyors entered Tibet in disguise and carried out the most authoritative surveys of their times. ''A Million Steps'' is a short documentary attempting to look at the adventures of three of these surveyors.<ref>{{cite web|title=a million steps {{!}} Under Construction - UC Films|url=http://www.ucfilms.in/subject/history/a-million-steps/|accessdate=30 January 2013}}</ref> ''Tracing the Arc'' is about the Great Trigonometric Survey or Great Arc Project that started in 1802 and lasted through most of the 19th century. Although arising out of cartographic and military necessity, it was an ambitious attempt to measure the curvature of the earth's surface. It remains a major achievement of applied science in British India. The film attempts to recreate the stupendous effort and look at some of its implications.<ref>{{cite web|title=tracing the arc {{!}} Under Construction - UC Films|url=http://www.ucfilms.in/subject/history/tracing-the-arc/|accessdate=30 January 2013}}</ref> The two films were part of the Survey of India's "Great Arc Bicentenary Celebrations".<ref>{{cite news|last=Nayar|first=Mandira|title=Daring mapping saga on celluloid|url=http://hindu.com/thehindu/lf/2003/08/26/stories/2003082600920200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518115725/http://hindu.com/thehindu/lf/2003/08/26/stories/2003082600920200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 May 2014|accessdate=5 February 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=26 August 2003}}</ref>

===The conflict trilogy and other recent work=== In 2007, Butalia returned to the North-East to make ''Manipur Song'', which documents the impact of violence on the lives of ordinary people in the state of Manipur. It was selected for screening in a special section for Indian documentary films at the 54th International Leipzig festival.<ref>{{cite web|title=Special section for Indian docs at 54th International Leipzig Festival|url=http://dearcinema.com/news/special-section-for-indian-docs-at-54th-international-leipzig-festival-for-documentary-and-animated-film/3857|accessdate=15 January 2013}}</ref> More recently, Butalia has been associated with DocWok, an initiative to mentor documentary film production in India. At a rough cut workshop held in November 2012, his film ''The Textures of Loss'' was one of six selected by DocWok for the current round of projects.<ref>{{cite web|title=Docwok|url=http://docwok.in/|accessdate=14 February 2012}}</ref> The film deals with the sense of loss that is all-pervasive in Kashmir after more than two decades of violence. The film was initially denied certification by the CBFC. In May 2015 the Delhi High Court allowed its release without any cuts.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mathur|first1=Aneesha|title=Kashmir Violence documentary: HC clears release of Butalia's film without any cut or disclaimer/article/india/india-others/kashmir-violence-documentary-hc-clears-release-of-butalias-film-without-any-cut-or-disclaimer/#sthash.XXUSCRzH.dpuf|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/kashmir-violence-documentary-hc-clears-release-of-butalias-film-without-any-cut-or-disclaimer/|accessdate=22 May 2016|publisher=The Indian Express|date=26 May 2015}}</ref> Another film recently concluded is ''A Landscape of Neglect'' (originally titled ''Assamblog'') shot extensively in remote parts of Assam over a period of three years. Together with ''Manipur Song'' and ''The Textures of Loss'', it forms the third part of a trilogy dealing with conflict in India.<ref>{{cite web|title=Assamblog|url=http://docwok.in/assamblog.html|accessdate=15 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224025121/http://docwok.in/assamblog.html|archive-date=24 December 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> These were followed by ''Yeh kahaan aa gaye hum'', a film on Urdu poet and lyricist Nida Fazli,<ref name="expressnida">{{cite news|last1=Khati|first1=Pooja|title=On the record: Man of His Word – Nida Fazli|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/music/nida-fazli-ye-kahan-agaye-hum-pankaj-butalia/|accessdate=13 March 2018|work=The Indian Express|date=12 April 2016}}</ref> and ''In Search of the Found Object'', on artist Vivan Sundaram.<ref name="expressartist">{{cite news|last1=Ali|first1=Asad|title=Searching for the Artist|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/pankaj-butalia-searching-for-the-artist-manipur-assam-kashmir-4699305/|accessdate=13 March 2018|work=The Indian Express|date=12 June 2017}}</ref> His most recent completed film, titled ''Mash Up'' (2017), documents the lives and hopes of two young men from a slum in Delhi, who aspire to be singers.<ref name="expressmashup">{{cite news|last1=Ralleigh|first1=Damini|title=From The Heart of The Basti|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment-video/pankaj-butalias-documentary-mash-up-talk-about-their-love-for-music-and-how-their-passion-gave-birth-to-new-aspirations-4842454/|accessdate=16 March 2018|work=The Indian Express|date=14 September 2017}}</ref>

At the 15th Madurai Film Festival held in December 2013, the Retrospective section featured seven films by Pankaj Butalia.<ref name="madurai">{{cite web|title=Madurai Film Festival: 24 November 2013|url=http://maduraifilmfest.blogspot.in/2013_11_24_archive.html|website=blogspot.in|accessdate=10 March 2018}}</ref>

==Other contributions== Apart from his work in cinema, Butalia has been writing on current affairs in various newspapers such as the Times of India and the Indian Express.<ref name="timesofindiareporter">{{cite web|title=Pankaj Butalia - Times of India Reporter|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toireporter/author-Pankaj-Butalia.cms|website=timesofindia.indiatimes.com|accessdate=8 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="indianexpress-pb">{{cite web|title=Pankaj Butalia: The Indian Express|url=http://indianexpress.com/profile/columnist/pankaj-butalia/|website=indianexpress.com|accessdate=5 March 2018}}</ref> He is also the author of a book entitled ''Dark Room: Child Sexuality in India'' (Harper Collins, 2013; {{ISBN|978-9350294345}}), which is possibly the only book on the subject.

==Filmography== * ''When Hamlet went to Mizoram'' (1990) * ''Moksha'' (1993) * ''A Cat's Concert'' (1997) * ''A Matter of Light'' (1998) * ''Karvaan'' (1999) * ''A Million Steps'' (2003) * ''Tracing the Arc'' (2003) * ''Manipur Song'' (2007) * ''An Island of Hope'' (2010) * ''Centrestage'' (2010) * '' Kahani Ek Gaon ki'' (2012) * ''The Textures of Loss'' (2012) * ''A Landscape of Neglect'' (2015) * ''Yeh Kahaan aa Gaye Hum'' (2015) * ''In Search of the Found Object'' (2016) * ''Mash Up'' (2017)

==Awards==

* Silver Dove for ''Moksha'', Leipzig, 1993 * Golden Conch for ''Moksha'', Bombay International Film Festival of Documentary, Animation and Short Films, 1994 <ref name="miff">{{cite web|title=BIFF'1994 Award Winning Films|url=http://miff.in/biff1994-award-winning-films/|website=Mumbai International Film Festival|accessdate=4 March 2017}}</ref> * Special Jury Award for ''Moksha'', Golden Gate Awards, San Francisco, 1994<ref name="sffi"/> * Special Jury Award for ''Moksha'', Freeburg, 1994 * Special Mention for ''Shadows in the Dark'' in the Feature Film category, Amiens International Film Festival, 1999

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0124651}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butalia, Pankaj}} Category:Living people Category:Indian documentary filmmakers Category:1950 births Category:Film directors from Haryana Category:20th-century Indian people Category:People from Ambala Category:21st-century Indian people