Coming attraction: A film made on
the Naxal balladeer Gaddar

M S Shanker in Hyderabad

Gaddar inYudhanowka Gaddar

Gaddar finally has a film made on him. The 92-minute telefilm, dubbed Yudhanowka Gaddar (A battleship called Gaddar), is penned, produced and directed by journalist-poet, Devipriya.

The film traces how Gaddar, the Naxalite ballad singer who is also known for his Left-oriented revolutionary lyrics, rose from an exploited dalit boy to become a bard, using folklore to settle scores with his exploiters.

Devapriya records the young Gaddar moved to the city from his village, Toopran, for higher studies but found it difficult to adjust to the urban lifestyle. He left his engineering course for a bank job and later left that too to live with Left-wing extremists and spread their ideology through his songs and dances.

Gaddar is considered the true heir to Sheikh Nazar, the star of the undivided Communist Party of India. If Nazar sowed the seeds of Communist ideology in Andhra Pradesh, then Gaddar spearheaded Left-wing ideology in the north Telangana districts and several parts of the country, including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal.

His lyrics have even been used in commercial Telugu cinema, with some producers lifting his lyrics without giving credit to him.

Devipriya thinks his film captures the spirit of Gaddar's music, which is described as a true people's music, and which carried his name to four corners of the world.

He first met Gaddar during the shoot of Maa Bhoomi, directed by Goutam Ghosh and produced by B Narasing Rao. Later he worked with Gaddar in the film, Rangulakala, again produced by Narasing Rao.

Gaddar is not an ordinary person, Devipriya says. "If NTR can be called a phenomena, then why not Gaddar?" he wonders.

Explaining why he made the film on Gaddar, Devapriya cites the younger generation's ignorance about the Telugu poet, Sri Sri. Except for some audio recordings of Sri Sri's voice by his contemporary, Krishnamurthy, many even do not know he looks like, he says.

"I wouldn't like this to happen to Gaddar, who should be remembered for fighting injustice... My effort is just showing Gaddar as Gaddar for the benefit of the coming generations...," he says, adding there was overwhelming response to the film when it was shown under the art section of the Thiruvananthapuram International Film Festival.

"Of course, I have only shown rushes of the film,'' he says, adding that the film had been invited to be screened in the Italian international film festival in June and in the Asian film festival at Kathmandu in September.

Photo: Anil Kumar

Gaddar after the attack on him

Devipriya says he wants to dub the film in many Indian languages and show it in all states where Gaddar's kind of Left-wing extremism exists -- in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal.

"First it will be shown on a premier Telugu channel," he says. And considering that there was much indignation in Andhra Pradesh over an attempt to kill Gaddar, it should do well.

Related story:
Gaddar survives murderous attack