New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) “A Little Poland in India”, a heart-warming documentary about a historical bond between India and Poland, tries to convey that “there are no boundaries and no continents between human hearts”, says Anu Radha, executive producer and co-director of the film which was premiered here Thursday.
“A little Poland in India” is the first film co-produced by the Indian and Polish governments under an audio-visual agreement between both the countries.
“My message in the film is that we live in one world and there are no boundaries. There is nothing different when the human heart is concerned. The language is different, but what you think for each other is the same. This is the message that I wanted to give through the film,” Anu Radha told IANS.
The 52-minute film was screened at Doordarshan Bhawan in the capital.
Set during World War II, the film showed the true story of Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja of Nawanagar (also known as Jam Sahib), nephew of the famous Indian cricketer Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji of the Jadeja clan, a princely state in the Kathiawar peninsula in Gujarat, and how he volunteered to help Polish refugees.
“There are no boundaries and no continents between human hearts. The film is a living testimony of this sentiment. The love that the Polish survivors still share for India has filled me with humility and pride for the land that I am born in,” she added.
During world war II, about 1,000 Polish children travelled all the way to India where Jam Sahib took personal risks to make arrangements at a time when the world was at war and India was struglling for its Independence. He built a camp for them in a place called Balachadi, 25 km from his capital city Jamnagar.
In the film, five survivors shared their experience of how they got a new life and second homeland in India.
The film begins with the journey of the lead protagonist Wieslaw Stypula, a survivor, now 8o years old, who travels all the way from Warsaw to Jamnagar and Balachadi in Gujarat.
“Our relationship with India stretched back to World War II when India opened her heart to the Polish refugee children and offered them both home and human warmth. We shall never forget the generosity of spirit,” said Piotr Ktodkowski, Poland’s ambassador to India.
Doordarshan (National Broadcasting Network), Government of Gujrat, NinA (National Audiovisual Institute) and TVP (Telewizja Polska) from Poland have co-produced “A Little Poland in India”.