Courtesy: TIMES OF INDIA. Thanks :) CHENNAI: Their job is to provide light, but they live in darkness. The lightmen in cinema industry are the most underpaid workers in the world of art. G Venkatesh Kumars Kannadi Bommaigal (children of light), a 70-minute documentary in Tamil, sheds some light on the lives of these unsung heroes. The cinema world deals with lakhs and crores of rupees, but light-men are struggling for a few thousands. Even though they do a very important role on cinema sets, they dont get the credit they deserve. The documentary will expose the darker side of their lives, says Venkatesh Kumar, director of the movie, which will be released in September. Being a documentary filmmaker, Kumar himself witnessed in his own set as to how it is difficult to survive as a light-man. They set the light in every directions according to the wishes of the director and cameraman. Its a job without rest. But they still live in poor conditions. When many in the industry travel in luxury cars, these light-men still use their old bicycles to commute, he says. There are more than 2,000 light-men in the Tamil film industry, and many get around 500 each for a days work. They also have to work extra time, if needed. At times, they are not even allowed to stop work after their prescribed schedules. We are like slaves. We dont have a voice. Even make-up men and other technicians get credit lines for their work, we dont get it for some strange reason. Even though we have a union, its not very strong, says Amar Selvan, a light-man based in Chennai. Venkatesh Kumar has directed ten short films and four documentaries and a couple of his works such as White Dirt and Vittil Poochigal have won international awards. Kannadi Bommaigal is Venkatesh Kumars fourth documentary. For him, cinema is a medium to showcase the evils in the society. It was after seeing the sad life of the light-men on his own sets that he decided to highlight their issues. I spoke to a number of senior light-men who have been in the field for more than 35 years for my documentary. They live in rented houses, and earns a meager wage of Rs 500 per day, says Venkatesh Kumar, who is a physiotherapist by profession. How is Kannadi Bommaigal going to help the light-men? Venkatesh Kumar has a clear idea. I am fighting for achieving a better treatment for light-men in the industry. Since I am raising all the main issues of these people through my documentary, I am sure things will change. They will soon get their due, he says.......
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 06:43:26 +0000