By Arpana, IANS

Films are a mirror to society, but Bollywood filmmakers seem to shy away from portraying tragedies like the 1947 partition, the 1993 Mumbai blasts or the 2002 Gujarat riots, largely because they are not easy to do. However, there are exceptions.

This week, however, there is a refreshing change. Theatre personality Shrirang's directorial debut "Dil Se Pooch... Kidhar Jaana Hai" that takes a closer look at the lives of those who survived the Mumbai blasts, released Friday.

"We talk sympathetically about the 9/11 tragedy and other similar incidents, but do we try to know what happened to the people who survived. More than physical, such violence has a psychological effect. It can finish people," said Vani Tripathi, who plays a Muslim girl orphaned during the Mumbai riots in the film.

"I play a girl who loses her entire family. She has no one to turn to and in the course of time becomes a prostitute. And when she meets her friend, who has become a cop, after 10 years and wants to settle down with him the socio-political system plays havoc in their lives," Vani told IANS.

The film neither boasts of a dazzling star cast nor a big banner. But it certainly has something profound to say through its narrative.

Making such films is not an easy job. "My producer had a tough time finding a distributor," said Vani.

In the last 13 years, this is probably the third film on the Mumbai blasts - the first being Mani Ratnam's "Bombay" followed by Anurag Kashyap's "Black Friday", which was banned in India.

So, are Indian filmmakers disinclined to venture into such areas?

Making films on victims of violence and catastrophe is not an easy job, says veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal.

"Take partition for instance - it was not possible to make a film until 'Garam Hawa' happened. Not because there was any bar on it or censorship was the reason. There are many complex reasons.

"While dealing with certain kinds of subjects, you have to do it with a certain distance. Without that distancing you are unable have a grip on the subject in any reasonable way, but particularly in a traumatic way," said Benegal.

"That's why it was easier for somebody like Mani Ratnam to make a film about the events of the 1993 Mumbai blasts."

Ratnam's "Bombay", starring Manisha Koirala and Arvind Swamy, dealt with the communal violence that erupted after the Mumbai blasts.

Special Judge P.D. Kode has finished giving the verdicts on the 1993 bombings in Mumbai that killed 257 people and injured 713.

But the punishment won't wipe out the scars, which are engraved on the hearts and minds of families who lost their near and dear ones.

Vani, herself a witness to the riots, says it is not easy to talk to people who are in obvious anguish.

"I am a Delhi girl and even after so many years I can't shut the memories of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. I am a social worker and I was given a file of 50 women to meet. When I went to meet them, half didn't speak, a few tried to talk but were so emotional that their words were lost in sobs. Even after years, people find it difficult to talk."

"How long will we mollycoddle these people?" asks Vani? "People sit in their drawing rooms and talk about such people without knowing what's happening in their lives."

Anurag Kashyap's "Black Friday", based on a book by S. Hussein Zaidi, talks about the investigation in the riots, how police solved the case and the conspiracy behind the blasts. The film has been showcased at quite a few international film festivals like Locarno, Bhutan, New York and earned critical acclaim but ironically it is banned in India.

There have been a few films like "Dharmaputra", "Garam Hawa", "Mammo" or "Tamas" dealing with the subcontinent's partition, but hardly any good, telling films on tragedies like the Mumbai blasts or Gujarat riots.

Maybe, it would be a good idea if reputed filmmakers take the trouble to visit such sensitive and sometime taboo subjects to create awareness about the victims.