Theatre packed to capacity for ‘Phule’ screening

It was a rare festive occasion for more than 350 men, women and children from across the region, mostly from Dalit families, as they gathered at the local Prime Theatre this evening to watch the special screening of movie “Phule”.

The youth team from the Ambedkar Sena of India had got two halls in the theatre booked for the biopic based on anti-caste icons Jyotirao and his wife Savitribai Phule. The students were offered tickets free of cost for the film. The rest of them paid a nominal Rs 200 per person. Families were encouraged to come to watch the movie as they were all told that they would be felicitated at the end of the show. Conveyance arrangements were also made for people expressing their desire to come from adjoining towns, including Phillaur, Goraya and Apra.

Meanwhile, the screening of the movie in the Dalit heartland Doaba, with an estimated 39 per cent of the SC community, certainly assumed significance. “The response to the movie was as expected. It gels with our mission to awaken Dalit youth, especially women and girls, against any kind of exploitation. We all have been following Dr Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram as our icons. But the contribution of Phule couple has been no less. We felt that it was our duty to make the next generations aware about their role," said Gulshan Masandpur, main organiser and Dalit activist.

There was pindrop silence in the packed halls as the movie started. They all got glued to the movie right from the opening scene, which showed just six girls reaching the school that the couple had started amid a lot of hardships.

Theatre artiste Kulwant Kaur, who runs thr Manavta Kala Manch at Nagar village of Phillaur, and had come with her family, said, “My teenaged kids are well versed with important historical events and the role of the Phule couple. We could have made them watch the movie in the comfort of their home too. But I felt that bringing them to theatre for watching it was important. We could not give them this environment at home for watching such a motivational film."

SL Virdi, Dalit writer from Phagwara, too, made it to the event with his wife. He said, “It is after a long time that a full, big budget, inspirational movie on caste divide, oppression and andolan has been released. It was already in our must-watch list. When the invite reached me, I accepted it most readily".

Sukhdeep Singh, owner of the theatre, said, “We sold out each show for Rs 42,000. It is now up to the organisers of the event to collect the money from the movie-watchers." Harmesh Virk, a co-organiser, said, “Going by the response, we are planning to conduct two-three more shows of the movie next week."

Punjab