DREADFUL FATE

Spreading awareness: Director Narsing Rao flanked by Tanikella Bharni, Dr. Raja Reddy, Ved Kumar and Lavanya Krishna releasing the DVD of ‘Dreadful Fate', a documentary made by Dulam Satyanarayana, on Sunday. 

HYDERABAD: Shiva, a boy from Charlagudem village of Nalgonda district could not have asked for a better tribute. A fluorosis victim, who lived six painful years only to die a pointless death, got a documentary film dedicated to him.

That was the only way the 10-member crew of the film ‘Dreadful Fate' could unburden their hearts. For, the boy who was the subject of a few initial shots, died during production.

The film is a slap on the face of successive governments and political leaders for their apathetic attitude to the age-old issue of the dreadful disease. All that the affected villages need is Rs.300-crore investment for safe drinking water, which never arrives despite shocking instances of crippling and premature deaths. Worse is people's inability to cope with it.

“The lesser the intake of calcium, the more fluoride absorbed in the body. Worsening disease conditions for the past four or five years have much to do with the reduced village nutrition levels,” said D. Raja Reddy, Consultant Neuro Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, after the film's screening here on Sunday. The DVD was released by renowned film-maker B.Narsing Rao.

The 22-minute film, directed by D. Satyanarayana, makes a powerful mark on the conscience of the watcher, with its detailed interviews, strong visuals and background music to match the mood. Mr. Satyanarayana, who had earlier won an award in the International Digital Film Festival — 2009 for his film ‘Moushuni', got his crew from Orkut social networking site.

“I sought members to assist me in Orkut's ‘Short-film Makers' community and received many responses from people with varied backgrounds,” he said.

Anusha.V, the script associate of the film, for example, is a third-year student from Osmania Medical College.

Cinematographer M. Sharath Reddy finished his BFA from JNTU, and Rupa.S. Assistant Director holds an MBA degree.

The film is to be screened at international and national film festivals, and also colleges and universities.