Alumni Highlights

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“In an independent film you tend to have stories that involve more of a community, and the smaller characters are important to the story..”

– David Morse

The wonders of a woman in terms of filmmaking as an independent filmmaker and the links between her various roles as a mother, an entrepreneur, an educator and a documentary filmmaker or even about her inspiration behind the brilliant work of showcasing her culture and rich ethnicity gets highlighted through one of the alum’s brilliant work.

Shwetal Bhatt (MPWE 2010, alumni of IIMB) has given us an opportunity to view her documentary film “Ramji Thakkar Bhimji Thakkar” which has entirely been shot, directed and produced by her.

The film “Ramji Thakkar Bhimji Thakkar” and few lines about its maker-

Shwetal Bhatt is a designer, artist, an educator and a mom to her 13-year-old son. An alumnus of the IIMB (MPWE 2010), National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, Shwetal runs an independent design studio, FoDoMe, which makes works in copper and glass, since 2005. In the last two years, the studio has become a lab for creative explorations of all kinds of materials and ideas. She got involved in the field of training and education out of a desire to work with various aspects of creativity and to understand its impact on society. She started her journey into education through workshops for adults, children and by doing clay play modules in corporate training workshops. She later joined The Valley School, Krishnamurti Foundation India, Bangalore where she worked on the tangible and intangibles of art and creativity with children of all age groups as well as adults (predominantly in sculpture and carpentry). In 2013, inspired by a short conversation that she had with her students, she embarked on a journey of documenting the Navratri Festival of Baroda. The end result of which was the film, “Ramji Thakkar Bhimji Thakkar” a 74 min film in Gujarati and English with English subtitles.

The film is about the survival and evolution of a folk culture in an urban scenario in the city of Baroda. The film brings forth the urban story, the evolution and the history of the folk form in an emotional, natural and humorous manner while exploring the bond between the festival, the city and its people (who are symbolized by the narrator/director as ‘me). Baroda is the only city where this is no Disco Dandia or Bollywood music during the Navratri festival.
The film has been screened at various places in Baroda (Open Studio) Bangalore (IFA, The Valley school,) and Mumbai (NCPA). The film has all been screened to community audiences, on demand, in India and the US.

The making of the film is a story in itself! Shwetal took on the many roles of that of a researcher, director, camera person, translator and promoter of the film as she was driven by her passion for bringing this story to the people. She is a first-time filmmaker who learned the art and business of it while on the job. This project also made her develop her own perspective on the economics of life and business. Her strength and guides were her families who truly understood the relevance of her work. Her many roles, including that of a mother, an artist, and an educator are all opportunities to express creativity and love.

The trailer of the film can be seen below: