‘Such stories are still seen as serious’: Debaditya Bandyopadhyay

Virendra Saxena in the poster. Pic/By Special Arrangement

Filmmaker Debaditya Bandyopadhyay's passion project, Ped Chalta Hai, will première in the Marché du Film section at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14. This is a global moment for a story that was born from the director's travels.

"During my travels through forest regions of Jharkhand, especially Palamu, I saw the emotional and environmental impact of deforestation and unchecked development on both land and people. I did not want to make a documentary. I wanted to tell a human story; Ped Chalta Hai uses suspense and emotional storytelling to explore environmental imbalance," shared Bandyopadhyay. Starring Virendra Saxena and several local artistes from Jharkhand, the movie examines environmental imbalance.

Debaditya Bandyopadhyay

Despite being one of the biggest global issues, environmental conservation hardly finds space on screen. Bandyopadhyay said that finding financing for such stories is challenging. "Environmental stories are still seen as serious or non-commercial. So, financing such films is never easy. But I believe audiences today are far more aware of climate issues because they are experiencing environmental imbalance in everyday life."

May 14
When ‘Ped Chalta Hai' will have its world première