A film review of Cinema bandi
By Jashvitha Dhagey
Telugu audiences cheered on Mahesh Babu as he saved his friend and his village in Maharshi (Sage). In classic Tollywood style, we got to know more about the hero than the village he was trying to save. Cinema Bandi (Cinema Vehicle) directed by Praveen Kandregula, on the other hand, is also set in a village. It has nothing to do with a hero and yet, it makes a place for itself in our hearts through its storytelling.
Set in a village in Andhra where electricity is hard to come by, water is scarce and most people work as daily wage labourers, Cinema Bandi is about an autorickshaw driver named Veerababu (Vikas Vasistha) who finds a camera in the back of his vehicle. He is then persuaded by a camera person friend (Sandeep Varanasi) who shoots weddings on a Sony Digicam to make a film of his own using this “pedda (big) camera”. Cinema Bandi tells the story of rural India through the lens of a literal camera.
It’s hard-hitting but it doesn’t try to be that way. This film can remind one of ‘Bicycle Thieves’ because it introduces us to the glaring disparities of life while simply telling a story. Cinema Bandi doesn’t exaggerate situations or portray them in a sad way so as to elicit sympathy. Almost half an hour into the film, we see the two filmmaker friends in a facility for breeding chickens because it’s the only place with continuous electricity. Vasistha is talking to Varanasi about how it’s not a hassle to travel 5 kilometres to recharge a battery. It’s the roads that are pathetic. He exclaims, “My butt swelled up after riding just a kilometre!” He then goes on to say that once their film becomes a hit, he will have enough money to get the roads fixed. He says, “There’s no point in waiting for someone else to do it. We must get it done ourselves.” He continues, “We can cover this distance of five kilometres in no time to charge(our devices)..”, and stops short of completing the sentence and says that when he gets the money, he’ll get electricity to the village first. In response, Varanasi is seen praising the snacks that Vasistha got for him earlier. This scene reminds us of the amount of neglect experienced by the elements of society that don’t serve the needs of the upper caste and upper class. The chicken is again used as a reminder of the deprived lives of the protagonists when Vasistha is convincing his wife Gangotri played by Sirivennela Yanamandhala. He asks her when the last time they cooked chicken at home was and she has no response.
The process of shooting the film itself is interesting to watch. In the midst of shooting their first scene, a man is seen emerging from the bushes that form the backdrop of the scene after taking a dump. He seriously asks them if they were shooting him go. While they are still telling this man that they were not, another man starts walking towards the same spot but is asked to go away by them. In another scene, Vasistha and Rag Mayur who plays Maridesh Babu ask some farm labourers if they’d like to act in the film. They say that they are keen to but will lose their daily wage if they leave work. Mayur assures them that they’ll be paid and Vasistha agrees to convince them. They ask to be paid before the shoot and Vasistha does, albeit reluctantly, but it’s for cinema. It is scenes like this that show how keen the protagonists are to tell their story. It shows how much Vasistha’s character believes in his idea despite his lack of basic but essential necessities in life.
We see the entire village’s perspective of Vasistha’s dreams shift as the film progresses. It’s incredible to watch their belief in the idea that this film that is being made by people who had never even seen a camera before can make their lives better. They come forward to help him with the film in every way they can. It is this innocence with which they trust Vasistha to change their lives that makes the film so heartwarming to watch.
What stands out about this film is the protagonist’s desire not to imitate the modern life of the city. His actions are not driven by the desire to be rich. He makes it very clear that he wants life to be simpler and easier for the people of the village.
At the end of the film, we realise that anybody can make a film if they have a story to tell. Cinema Bandi is currently streaming on Netflix.