Cinema and society are closely interlinked. And the basis of society is cooperation. Girish Karnard, the noted thespian said in his enthralling speech that put the subject cooperative in a refreshing perspective.
Hackneyed speeches , lies and hollow promises that often lull audience to sleep in cooperative gatherings were done away with for a change.
Tracing the role of cinema in society Dr Karnard expounded at length how the Tamil identity was shaped through cinema by the likes of Anna Durai, MGR and Jayalalitha.
Dr Karnard was delivering the 26th Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial IFFCO Lecture Friday at NCUI Auditorium in New Delhi.
“Mentioning connection between cinema and cooperative may generate mirth but my first lesson in cooperative was learnt during the making of the film Manthan. We calculated that the film would cost Rs 10 lakh and we took Rs 2 from each farmer to make the film. The film was based on the story of famous Vergese Kurien and won many national awards”, Dr Karnard said to a rapt audience.
While talking about the co-terminal rise of cinema and society Girish Karnard had a trip down memory lane from 30s through 40s, 50s and to date underlining a close connection between cinema, society and cooperative.
Elaborating on the role India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru played towards the growth of the cooperative movement, U S Awasthi, Managing Director of IFFCO said “at the time of independence Nehru felt that cooperative movement alone could ameliorate the socio-economic conditions of the time”.
Nehruji saw a dream of converting Indian villages into self-reliant entities with the help of cooperative. The concept of cooperative was far removed from politics but with the passage of time ideas get distorted. Some of the cooperatives have done well while others have not been so lucky, Awasth added.
IFFCO, has kept Nehru’s words close to its heart – be it the opening up of SEZ or a global venture, it always remembers to put the farmer at centre-stage.
N P Patel, Chairman of IFFCO welcomed the guests while G N Saxena, Director Cooperative Development read the massages from President Pranab Mukerjee, Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Chidambaram and other dignitaries.
Joint MD Rakesh Kapoor introduced the main speaker Girish Karnard and B S Nakai proposed vote of thanks.
On this occasion IFFCO Sehkarita Ratna and Sehkarita Bandhu awards were given to Mr E Chandrasekhaaran and Mr Khemabhai Hirabhai Patel for their invaluable contributions towards the cooperative movement.
