He is known for comedy as well as his dance moves but actor Javed Jaffrey has now taken up a serious project. The actor-cum-producer will promote the culture of documentary making through his own production company called the Indian Documentary Foundation (IDF).
“IDF is a non-profit organisation that will help raise funds for financing and marketing documentary films, create awareness and raise the bar for documentaries,” Jaffery told IANS.
He ventured into documentary making as co-producer of Inshallah, Football and hopes to create a market for such movies that act as an eye-opener and share important information. “Documentaries say a lot about society. These films provide some amazing and hard-hitting information in a condensed form. There are so many different areas that they touch upon, which people are not actually aware of,” he added.
Jaffery has recently completed making a documentary, but refuses to divulge details. The 48-year-old blames the “escapist” attitude of people for the dwindling state of documentary film-making. He admits that the misconception, that documentaries are boring and only cater to an intellectual audience, exists in the subcontinental mindset. However, he hopes to alter these preconceived notions through his initiative. “If the story is told in a right way, a documentary is not only entertaining but informative as well. We have to act as responsible citizens. To think that such films are just for the intellectual audience is very irresponsible on our part.”
The actor believes that the corporate and profit seeking culture is also to blame for the damper documentary genre faces in the subcontinent.”Everyone is money-minded, whether it’s TV or cinema. We forget that we have some social responsibilities also. If they provide even a 30-minute slot to documentaries to be broadcast on TV, it could work wonders,” explained Jaffery.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2012.
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