What gives a man his identity? What can force a person to work as a scavenger? What can be the outcome of caste-based lifestyle in a modernised world? These are some of the questions the film Angels of Hell brings out.
Directed by John Devaraj, an engineer-turned artiste who has a passion for sculpting, art, painting, filmmaking, photography, music and social work, the movie is a reflection of life through the eyes of children. The 71-minute feature film focuses on social and political exclusion faced by the manual scavengers of this country. John tells the true life story of 12-year-old Kiran Joseph King and his parents who are manual scavengers. The movie highlights the stark realities of sewage drain cleaning and the innumerable problems faced by the lower caste people who are mostly the ones forced to take up this job. Produced by the Bornfree Art School, where John works and teaches children to realise their potential, the movie has a powerful narrative.
In spite of being one of the world’s biggest democracies, manual scavenging is still widely prevalent in India, shares John. “Essentially, Angels of Hell is a Dravidian film. I’m proud to be an Indian but am not proud of what the people of India are still practicing. This is a human rights issue. Why should this happen only in India? This movie is a way of condemning caste in the country. Angels of Hell is also about the 134 million street children in India who are all angels dying in the hell our country has created for them.”
John raises a lot of issues and eyebrows with the movie. “I want to break the caste system using children, especially street children since they have no discrimination. I want these issues to be discussed in schools and colleges and make people aware of the situation.”
On what he wants people to take away from the movie, John says: “responsibility. We should take the initiative to clean ourselves. If we do this, we will go forward as a country. We need to break the heart of the problem. I want to resolve this conflict without pitting one group against the other.”
Working with children is fantastic, says John. “This movie is bright because it involves children. I’m trying to show the philosophy of Jesus, Buddha and Basavana from the eyes of children. I want my viewers to put themselves in the shoes of the people they are watching on screen. My idea is to create child liberators. Children should become aware and free other children. We are appealing to humanity as a whole through the film.”
Inspired by his mother when he was six years old, John says the movie is a tribute to the cause she stood for – to fight injustice – which is also the first scene in the film. “My mother inspired this film in a big way. She taught me about sharing and looking after others and caring for people’s needs.”
Having released the film in St. Joseph’s College on Sunday, John plans to take it forward and send it film festivals as well to authorities and famous personalities who will champion the cause and bring an end to the menace of human scavenging.
