WHEN SHANKAR NAG COMES ASKING
Documentary, Kannada with English subtitles, 70 min, 2012, India
Date: 24th November, Saturday, 4pm
Venue: National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru
Manikyavelu Mansion, 49 Palace Road
Bangalore could be any other metropolis of India. The lives of the autodrivers in the documentary could be survival stories of vulnerable millions in many big cities right across the world. The twist in Bangalore’s tale is Shankar Nag. No other city has an actor who died 20 years ago, still breathing through autoricksha windshields.
WHEN SHANKAR NAG COMES ASKING is an album about today’s Bangalore. In the race to become a ‘global’ city, the struggle is as much in holding on to the familiar as it is about embracing the new. In what ways does one seek the familiar, when the familiar is not the same anymore? What does it take for Ramanna, Mahadeva and the Autodrivers at Shankar Nag Auto Stand, 8th Main Road, Basaveshwarnagar, to ‘belong’ in Bangalore today? How does Shankar Nag fit into this story about identity and belonging?
Produced by Kowdi
Directed by Sushma Veerappa
Camera - Vinod Raja
Sound – Arun Rama Varma
Editors – Sushma Veerappa with Vasanth Kumar D
Animations – Archana Hande
This is a part of Project Cinema City film screenings.
