The film festival is being organised by a newly formed organisation, ‘Chitra Bharti’, set up by RSS office bearers at Devi Ahilya University in Indore. (Express Photo by Sudarshan Sakharkar)
THE Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office bearers are organising a “national film festival” from February 26 to 28 in Indore where short films and documentaries on themes of family ethos, socio-cultural issues and environment will be screened. RSS’s prant prachar pramukhs and Vishwa Samvad Kendra offices across the country have been asked to contact the persons concerned in their respective states, districts and send short films and documentaries for the festival.
Actors including Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Raghubir Yadav, Rajpal Yadav, Mukesh Tiwari have reportedly been approached to attend the festival and interact with the participants. Paresh Rawal is BJP MP from Ahmedabad East while Kher had last month led a march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi to protest against the voices being raised over “intolerance” in the country.
The film festival is being organised by a newly formed organisation, ‘Chitra Bharti’, set up by RSS office bearers at Devi Ahilya University in Indore. RSS’s akhil bharatiya sah prachar pramukh J Nandakumar inaugurated the office of the film festival’s organising committee on university campus on December 6 in the presence of vibhag sanghchalak Lakshmanrao Navathe and Malwa region prant prachar pramukh Praveen Kabra, who is also director and chief organiser of the festival. A website, http://www.chitrabharatifilmfest.com, was also inaugurated on the occasion.
Kabra told The Indian Express that he has written to RSS’s prant prachar pramukhs of all 34 Prants across the country and Vishwa Samvad Kendra offices to inform the people in their areas about the film festival and appeal to them to send their short films and documentaries produced on the themes of family ethos, socio-cultural and environment issues.
Kabra, however, clarified that the event was not being organised by the RSS.