In one of the earliest scenes of People in the loop Directed by Aranya Sahay, Nehma, the hero of the Oraon tribe in a remote village in Jharkhand, is seen with his ear to the ground on a rock on one side, observing his surroundings for signs of life in the inanimate and the living. . For a moment, the character breaks the fourth wall, looking at the audience and telling you that she is taking you on a journey through her story.
People in the loop It was screened at the 29th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in the Indian Cinema Now category. Nehma, a tribal woman, divorced her upper caste husband Ritesh. The couple has two children, 12-year-old Dhanu and one-year-old Guntu, and Nehma joins the village’s artificial intelligence (AI) center as a data-labeler to keep them safe. However, Dhanu finds it difficult to adjust to his mother’s lifestyle. As the story progresses, Nehma realizes that the AI comes with many prejudices that discriminate its own community and has to treat it like its own children, who have to be taught things.
Sonal Madhushankar In People in the loop
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangements
Data labeling is a process that helps AI identify data for future use. Labelers like Nehma solve captchas, which help AI distinguish between people and objects, which has huge implications everywhere in the world.
The film explores various themes such as life and non-life and the ever-blurring boundaries between the two. Nehma rejoices at the thought of how both her children and AI are growing up. She feels deeply for both of them. But Nehma is saddened by her realization that both of them are prejudiced against her community, beautifully portrayed by Sonal Madhushankar. The hero finds life in nature and all that it contains. From rocks to insects, everything exhibits life and deserves to exist.
People in the loopBlank Slate explores the idea that humans or, in this case, AI, are actually born void of biases. It passes through both arguments that it is and that it is not. It also describes the need to train the AI, which is often driven by First World stories.
In its 72-minute run time, the film looks at how humans at the dawn of civilization depended on labels. In one scene, during Nehma’s childhood, she tells her friend Roshan that she drew a picture of how the cave animals helped her ancestors. However, present-day Nehma witnesses another form of labelling, which objectively describes Kira as a “pest” and a “beautiful” woman. The idea of dominant narratives created by those with more agency reinforces the voice of dissent, forcing things to fit into a certain pattern driven by a single narrative.
Porcupines appear as a leitmotif in the film. Described as the shyest animal of the jungle, it symbolizes the coexistence and familiarity with nature that Nehma possesses.
The movie is driven by the moving performances of the actors. Ridhima Singh portrays Kishori Dhanu, conflicted about her parents, with the necessary nuance. Another standout performance is from Suniti Mahato, from Sarugadhi village in Jonha, Jharkhand, where the film was shot, who plays the childhood role of Nehma.
Silence Drive People in the loop Onward, be it between human characters or otherwise. Oscillations between hot and cold frames set in the same environment accurately reflect the inner turmoil of the characters.
Meet the director
People in the loop Aranya Saha’s debut feature film. Out of which he has directed five short films Song for Baba Sahab and March Screened at Mumbai International Film Festival, Science Films Festival and Jaffna Film Festival. He has worked with Imtiaz Ali in a show named after him Dr. Arora (2022). Aranya, an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, has also worked with Patrick Graham. Dancing on the graveA true crime show.
director of People in the loop Forest Aid Photo Credit: Special Arrangements
Aranya, who also explored the theme of caste Baba Sahab’s song, He says, ‘I think there is a trend of Brahminism in Hindi films. The people you see on screen, even if you see a wedding scene on screen, the culture belongs to the upper castes. It is important to explore it from the perspective of an Adivasi or Dalit person.” He adds,“We are only reflecting uniformity and not diversity.”
The film was screened at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival earlier this year. After its screening at IFFK, it will be screened again in Mumbai and then in Delhi for Govt. The final screening of this film will be held in Sarugadhi village where the film was shot.
The project was inspired by journalist Karisma Mehrotra’s article about data labeling in Jharkhand. The film took 12 days to shoot, with two months of pre-production work and seven months of research and writing.
Currently, the director is targeting a March or April 2025 theatrical release. Aranya says, “The only trick up our sleeve is word of mouth. We neither have a big star nor a big director.”
published – Dec 20, 2024 03:16 pm IST