“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water,” said W. H. Auden. Yes, water scarcity is today’s most pressing problem. The short film Rain of Life, which was released recently on social media, talks about the same.
“You cannot drink dollars; you cannot create even a drop of water, but have to wait for the mercy of nature,” says V.J. Stajan, director of the short film. “The short film conveys the message that even the heir ship to a kingdom is worthless when it is weighed against a drop of water,” he adds.
The short film features a young couple in a helicopter enjoying the beauty of the nature. Suddenly, their chopper crashes into a deserted area in Kenya where they can’t find a single drop of water. There they happen to meet a local tribal man with a vessel of water. They offer him everything they have, but he is not ready to give them a single drop of water. “The young urban couple in the middle of a desert is dead tired and drained of even the last drop of energy they had.
This short film tries to convey the value of water and the need for conserving every drop of it.”
The makers plan to screen the short film across the world. A planet with more than 1,000 rivers still faces acute scarcity of drinking water. The film projects a serious message about water conservation, failing which would result in the whole land facing water scarcity. Rain of Life mainly focuses on the importance of water harvesting.
Talking about the location, Stajan says: “The desert scenes are mainly shot at Thar Desert, near Barna village, named Barna dunes in Rajasthan. At first, we considered tourist spots for the shooting, but they were totally crowded as well as polluted. This shows the current condition of our environment. Finally, we moved 70 km away from the town to get the apt location with the help of a villager”. This spot provided them the surrounding which they had envisioned for the film. They have also used graphical elements to make it more effective and assertive. Selection of actors was another important task for them. Saviour Mars, who essayed the role of desert chief, is a theatre artiste. He has also worked in many short films. Ekaterina Kabanova and Taha Salahasaanas as the passenger lady and the pilot were selected through an agency named Impulse.
Stajan V.J., in his works, mainly focuses on social issues that need attention. He has done more than a dozen documentaries based on public issues, over 200 promotional videos and 50 plus brands. He runs his own ad film production company, Burning Lights. His upcoming project is a feature film, which will be written and directed by Sreenivasan. He will also act in it.
