'Kavi' star dreaming to present Oscar award to President of India

Come March 7, and the 16-year-old’s wish could very well come true. Sagar, a ninth standard student from a Mumbai slum, stars as the protagonist in “Kavi,” an internationally much-feted 19-minute short Hindi film, that has been nominated for the Oscars in the Best Short Film (Live Action) category. Directed by American director Gregg Helvey, the film deals with the issue of bonded labour.

And, Sagar is already gearing up for the biggest evening in the film world, planning to do his shopping for the event in Los Angeles itself.

Till a few days ago, he did not even have a passport, but now he has got one, thanks to the Centre that fast-tracked his application following requests from the film’s producers Harish Amin and Guneet Monga. Sagar had earlier done another film called “Bits and Pieces,” which is yet to be released, but this clearly is his biggest moment of glory, with the film, made by Helvey as part of his diploma project in the University of Southern California.

“I will go to the Oscars and bring home the trophy, and take it to Rashtrapati Bhavan to show it to Pratibhatai Patil,” says the Maharashtrian, a resident of a slum in Borivali’s Gorai 2 locality. With an elder sister already married, Sagar’s parents have to run a family of five, including his two elder brothers, on an earning of less than Rs 10,000 a month.

He also has many dreams in his eyes, though all relate to the film world. For one, he wants to be a full-time actor when he grows up. “Actor hi banna hai (I want to be an actor only),” Sagar told Deccan Herald after a special screening of the film here.
He seems to be already on that path, with acclaimed director Anurag Kashyap likely to cast him in one of his upcoming films.

He also dreams to be an actor who will be a combination of Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. “Like Aamir Khan, I will do only one film a year and bring home the Oscar for that, like Hrithik I want to have the best body, like Akshay Kumar I want to do the best stunts and like Bachchan I want to be the best actor,” says the kid whose favourite films are “Sholay”, “Khiladi”, “3 Idiots” and “Krish.”
Amin and Monga, who spent three years to get the film made, are quite naturally on cloud nine.

They virtually had no funds to make the film, but ever since the Oscar nomination came, everybody has become interested in it.

They have met ministers and senior officials in Labour, Women & Child Development, Information & Broadcasting and Science & Technology ministries, and all are coming forward to help, says Monga.

The film is straightforward and yet evocative narrative about how a child, whose parents are bonded labourers at a brick kiln in Maharashtra, escape from the sordid surroundings with the help of two NGO activists.