Not another brick in the wall

Kavi, a short feature in Hindi, has been nominated for the Oscars this year.

I t was supposed to be a 19-minute thesis film talking about slavery and how it exists even today. But nothing prepared debutant director Gregg Helvey for the global success of Kavi, a fictional film in Hindi, which showcases the journey of a young boy who is forced to work in a brick kiln. “I wanted to talk about a boy who wanted to live his dreams,” says Helvey who has made documentaries for BBC and National Geographic Channel in the past. The film, pre-production for which started in late 2006, started doing the rounds of film festivals and received a lot of accolades. Now Kavi’s been nominated in the Short Film category for the Oscars. “All I knew was that I just had to make a movie about it. People had to know. This injustice had to stop,” he says.

The story revolves around a young boy called Kavi, played by 16-year-old actor Sagar Salunke, who will be seen in director Anurag Kashyap’s forthcoming film. As a child forced to work in a brick kiln, Kavi’s dream is to go to school, play cricket like the “other boys”, “pick up books instead of bricks”. The film’s appeal lies in the simplicity with which it’s handled. And in what’s a truly effective moment, there’s a scene where Kavi looks up to his father and asks innocently, “Baba, why can’t I go to school?” “Some boys go to school, others are born to work,” is his father’s reply. It’s a moment that stays with you, reminding you of so many children on Indian streets who beg, sell magazines, balloons, even dance, all the while wondering just why the lives of other children sitting in fancy vehicles are so different from theirs. In less than half-an-hour, the film forces you to sit up and take note of child labour, illiteracy, poverty, all of these issues and how they affect the lives of so many Indians.

Helvey, however, insists that bonded labour is a global problem. It was his research that took him to brick kilns spread over India. And it was at one of the brick kilns that he remembers meeting children who were forced to work and not allowed to study. “There was one kid I remember in particular, I asked him his age and he didn’t know it,” remembers Helvey.

While Kavi is already creating waves on the Internet, many are calling it “the result of Slum Dog Millionaire effect”. Helvey, however, insists: “My goal is to… motivate action through awareness,” he says.

(You can buy the DVD of the film for $14.99 on kavithemovie.com. The prodceeds from DVD sales will go to anti-slavery organisations).