This is not about me. This is about the film that I have made. The film is an extension of me. If you want to know me better, watch the film and know me.
Sounds like a mysterious abstract promoting a film? Well, it's not about the film. It's about the person who made the film which will be premiered at Cannes film festival.
For Bhavna Talwar, the 33-year-old debutante director of Dharm, the glimpse that she got into the world of films during her journalistic career at The Asian Age was enough to tell her that this was where she belonged—that cinema was in her blood.
Since the realisation, it has been films, films and more films for Bhavna. First, it was a brief stint with an ad filmmaker Johnny Pinto where her passion for films was refined. "While my experiences have shaped me into what I am, when it concerns filmmaking, my mentor was the ad film world. I learnt about cinematic communication as ad-films entail communicating more over a shorter period of time. I also got to do a number of films in a short period of time," says Bhavna recalling the days prior to her grand entry.
She then acquainted herself with the genre better by watching and reading about films, learning its techniques and more. "That's the time I spent to understand cinema. All this while, I was just fond of films," she says. Looking back to an era when Indian films were far ahead of times, Bhavna feels that copying or churning out similar films is not true art. "The same way that art is appreciated for the sake of art, films too should be appreciated for the sake of art."
So the day Vibha Singh, who has written the story, screenplay and dialogue, narrated the storyline of Dharm, Bhavna's interest in making films that were honest and gave free reign to individualistic expression, came alive. The story of Dharm evoked in Bhavna a strong feeling to communicate what she had experienced about humanity, that humanity was every individual's prime duty. "Dharm may not be a personal experience in the sense of what it actually means. But it has the thread of humanity running throughout that all of us have experienced in some manner. It focuses on personal relationships between man and child, man and God, and man and wife. It talks of simple human relationships through a real human being."
"Dharm seemed to have sounded a note in my mind. It brought back memories of how smooth, complacent and peaceful life was for me, with no worries until terror laid its foot in Mumbai in the form of the Mumbai blasts.
Suddenly, we were jolted out of our routine life, into thinking that there was always more beyond the seemingly hunky-dory existence. We were scared, our freedom was restricted and more. The idea in Dharm is similar. One day, the protagonist is shaken out of his routine to face the real harsh life."
Armed with Dharm, Bhavna hopes to "willingly suspend" her audience into identifying with the main character and see him achieving a certain goal. That's what films are about, she says, adding that her film uses the language of cinema the way it must be used.

Strong medium
"Cinema is a strong medium, which can be used to communicate the good, bad and ugly. However it is not being used to the optimum. Indian cinema must be such that the world wakes up to it and looks up to the country that makes those good films. It should not lead to cheap spoofs on Indian dances and songs," she explains.
Bhavna's Dharm has found an entry into none other than the Indian section of the Tous Les Cinemas du Monde at the Cannes International Film Festival 2007. Excitement resounding in her laughter, she says, "It has given me tremendous joy. In fact, I keep pinching myself into reality, to tell myself that there is still a lot to learn, that I have to keep my feet firmly on earth and not let the recognition go to my head, that I must not let complacency creep in."
"When I started, I found filmmaking along the way. I knew that this was what I wanted. I knew what was being talked about. I would surely want to distinguish myself from the others. But that sort of distinguishing will happen several years later. Right now, I will try to tell stories that I truly believe in and tell them honestly," says Bhavna, even as she is testing waters for future films. It takes a lot of grit, determination, and talent, to bring people together, merge diverse views into one vision and to make a film. But if you believe in something, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, says Bhavna.
A few of Bhavna's favourite films and filmmakers: Federico Fellini's Eight and a Half, Pyaasa by Guru Dutt, Throne of Blood by Akira Kurasawa and more.
Her take on these directors: I love them for their original interpretation. I wish I could think like that, and achieve the originality that these directors achieved!
Dharm spans an hour and 45 minutes. Pankaj Kapur plays the role of Pandit Ram Narayan Chaturvedi, a Hindu priest in Benares. It is set to be released in June