"Aamir has a right to talk on the Narmada issue and if he would have made the statements on a personal level, things would have been different. But by sitting with people agitating against the dam, he gave the wrong message," says film-n-elevision director and social activist Ashok Pandit who is in news recently for making a documentary Paani on the ghastly floods of 26/7 in Mumbai last year.

In spite of being close to filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, Pandit says that in principal he is against the Public Interest Litigation filed by Bhatt in the Supreme Court urging the release of Fanaa in Gujarat. "It is not proper to talk only about Fanaa and forget the fact that Da Vinci Code is being banned in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and elsewhere. People like Teesta Setalwad are using the ban on Fanaa for settling their personal agendas against the Gujarat government," he says. 

Maker of critically acclaimed film Sheen on the Kashmir problem and director of successful television shows like Filmi Chakkar and Colgate Top 10, "Pandit has been the recipient of RAPA Award for best documentary for his film Sharnarthee Apne Desh Mein. It was time for me to ask him about Paani, a subject close to heart of every Mumbaikar. Paani is a common man’s voice that is not being heard by the System. It’s about a System that is shamelessly taking advantage of the common man. Like thousands of others, I too was sitting on the roof of my car on 26th July last year. While sitting on my car, I noticed the big hoardings of small politicians around me. I really wished they came out of the hoardings and worked for the people. My film is not about a natural disaster. It’s about a man made disaster. The entire system, be it the Government, the BMC, everyone failed. This year during the course of first monsoon showers I was appalled to hear the statements made by the Chief Minister and BMC that the rains came a week earlier than scheduled. It’s as if they would have been prepared to face the monsoon by then," says Pandit.

He is going to be seen enacting a journalist in his friend Madhur Bandharkar’s forthcoming Corporate. So, do you feel Media played any role during the floods last year considering you are all set to play a journo yourself? "The contribution made by Media was unbelievable. Television cameras reached remote areas. And these were areas that the police and BMC officials claimed that were impossible to reach. Media showed the truth and taught a lesson in accountability. I salute the media," he says emphatically.

A fifteen minute long documentary like Paani that has been made with honest intentions needs to reach out to people. How do you plan to take it to the people considering it can’t be a commercial venture? I am sending Paani to all the News Channels. "I am speaking to theatre owners and seeing if they could possibly play it in between two shows. I’ve spoken to people like Rajdeep Sardesai and Rajat Sharma and we are looking into possibilities of what best could be done for it to reach out to people," Ashok Pandit signs off.