New Delhi :
The ten day long Festival De Cannes 2016 is all set to commence in full swing from 11th May at Cannes, France. The event has been collecting a lot of positive publicity ever since its first segment, which was organized around seven decades ago. The Cannes Film Festival is considered to be one of the most prestigious platforms for reviewing movies and documentaries across a plethora of genres.
This year, the festival will witness the dæcopy; but production of an Indian-born director, Varun Chopra, who is one of the youngest Indian film makers in Cannes. He made his film at a young age of 22. His documentary, 'God On A Leash' is a fourteen minute short film that has been shot in the capital city, New Delhi. The story revolves around two ancestral art forms that survive in the modern world through their undying devotion to Hanuman- the Hindu deity who had a human body, but with the face and tail of an ape.
One of these communities is the "Madari", which was the ancient occupation of training monkeys to perform and entertain like humans. The other community is of the"Behrupiyas" or the 'masters of disguise'. These people were traditional impressionist who trained young children to behave like apes. "Both of these communities of Madaris and Behrupiyas are similar to each other in terms of their poverty and the firm belief in the power of the Monkey God, Hanuman- a deity that symbolizes selfless devotion and strength", Varun explains.
'God On A Leash' will show a parallel contrast between the life of a Madari and a Behrupiya. On one hand, it shows the life of a captured monkey family who travel around to places with their master. They are mistreated and painfully trained in the art of amusing humans. While on the other side, a young boy from the Behrupiya community dresses up and acts like a monkey for public performances.
