A novel portrayal of pollution
Students of Hyderabad University's department of communication have tried to highlight the effect industrialisation can have on the quality of life in their film, Companee Lochayee, Gaddu Rojulu Thechayee (With the Coming of Industries, Hard Days Have Come). As the film is part of their diploma requirement, it should not be judged by the standards of established video film-makers. The film is a first for both Umrao Sunil, who scripted, edited and produced it, and for his camera team.
The subject of Sunil's film is industrial pollution in the Pattencheru and Bollaram industrial areas -- a problem that is more than a decade old. Video magazines have tackled it before, but Sunil's group views it solely from the point of view of the affected villagers and uses the burra katha form of narrative, performed by singing minstrels from the affected villages.
Though its subtitling is somewhat indistinct, the film does raise awareness about how devastating industrialisation has been to the quality of life in a once self-sufficient rural area.