George Orwell’s dystopia, encapsulated in the year 1984, became prophetic for India when the year marked the biggest mass massacre of Sikhs in Delhi and other parts of the country. After a Sikh bodyguard assassinated then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, members of the community were brutalized, raped and butchered. They are still waiting for justice, even as Congress leader Sajjan Kumar now faces trial on charges of murder and rioting after the Supreme Court, on 3 December, dismissed his plea challenging earlier orders by the trial court and Delhi high court.

The screening of Shubhashish Bhutiani’s Kush at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York, US, four days after the Supreme Court’s verdict, could not have been more propitious. It is a 25-minute film set in 1984 and at its emotional centre is a Sikh boy named Kush. He is on a bus with his school friends and a feisty teacher, returning to Delhi from a picnic. Indira Gandhi is shot, and the anti-Sikh riots begin. During the course of the day and this journey, the teacher and his friends have to protect Kush from a hostile police force and goons targeting Sikhs. Will Kush return to the safety of his home?

Bhutiani’s film has a simple, linear narrative, with some powerful moments. It is executed with economy and elegance and the performances of Shayaan Sameer in the main role and Sonika Chopra in the role of the teacher enhance the effect of the film. Kush is shortlisted for the Live Action Short Film category at the Oscars, 2014.

The 22-year-old film-maker says he made it with a budget of around ₹ 10 lakh after completing his film-making course at the School of Visual Arts, New York. “I had heard about this incident while I was in school in Mussoorie. While I was listening to it, the images were popping in my head. I was captivated. Six years later I wanted to write a script that I cared about, and this story came to my mind," says Bhutiani.

The film-maker has already taken it for screening to the Venice Film Festival and other festivals around the world. Sanjay Bhutiani, the film-maker’s father and co-producer of Kush, says: “We are yet to know if the film can get a release in India. It has not been easy finding a distributor."

The anti-Sikh riots are not widely chronicled by Indian authors and film-makers. Two memorable exceptions are Shonali Bose’s film Amu (2005), which is about an adopted girl who discovers the truth about her childhood, shattered by the riots and, recently, Jaspreet Singh’s stinging, masterful novel, Helium (2013). In the novel, the protagonist, Raj, revisits his memories of the carnage while on a visit to India in 2009. There have been Punjabi films on the subject, including Ammtoje Mann’s Hawayein (2003) about a young musician who, disillusioned by the violence of 1984, turns to organized terror. This film was banned in Delhi and Punjab because of its content.

Bhutiani’s film is an admirable effort, and deserves all the accolades. He adds to the small number of politically-engaged writers and directors working in India.

Kush will be screened today at the South Asian International Film Festival, NYIT Auditorium, New York, at 5pm. For details, visit www.saiff.org. For the screening schedules of Kush, visit www.facebook.com/Kushthefilm

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