Filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda, winner of the Padma Shri and multiple National Film Awards, debuted his maiden literary venture, Return to Innocence, on 14 July 2023 at the British High Commissioner’s Residence in New Delhi. Part memoir, part commentary, Return to Innocence is the critically and globally acclaimed filmmaker’s first foray into another creative medium. The book was launched by Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and the British High Commissioner, Mr. Alexander Ellis, in the presence of veteran actor Makarand Deshpande. The teaser of Panda’s upcoming web series, The Jengaburu Curse, was also screened at the launch.
The event brought together people from the worlds of cinema and climate change activism, the two great passions that have shaped Mr. Panda’s life and work. These are also reflected in the poetic, cinematic prose of Return to Innocence. The book charts hisjourney from the rural world of his father in Dasharajpur, Odisha, in the 1970s to the urban and digital landscape his son inhabits in New Delhi in the new millennium. These experiences and opinions inform Mr. Panda’s films which, over two decades, have chronicled mankind’s actions and their impact on the planet through powerful, thought-provoking stories from rural India.His musings and views catalyse these narratives from biographical accounts into thought-provoking, dramatic essays about belonging, intent, actions and consequences.
The launch, a celebration of storytelling, resilience and the power of the silver screen, was an unforgettable evening for fans, aspiring filmmakers, dignitaries and literary enthusiasts. Attendees also had the opportunity to meet Mr. Panda in person, hear captivating excerpts from the book and engage in a thought-provoking discussion. A limited number of signed copies of Return to Innocence were also given away during the event.
Speaking about the book, Panda said, ‘Return to Innocence is an account of my life, my struggles, triumphs and transformation as I navigated my way from the countryside to the bustle of filmmaking in a metro city, and then to the world of global cinema. But it is also the journey of our planet in the same roughly four decades, from ecological sustainability to impending disaster. This is the story of how Indians, and mankind, have evolved unrecognizably over one man’s lifetime, as told by that one man and his craft. It is a testament to human resilience and also an appeal to the innocence within us to save our mother, our planet earth.’
In Return to Innocence, Panda uses stories from his childhood, his adolescence, his adulthood, his films and his relationships to ruminate about the things that bother him: the loss of childhoods, inconsiderate progress, climate change and the man-made crises that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed. Pictures from his homes and his travels, plus stills from his beautifully shot films, bring these stories alive as sensory experiences.
Panda expressed his gratitude and his excitement about sharing his first book with the world, saying, ‘I hope that my story will resonate with readers and inspire them to revive the innocence within, reconnect with the sacred continuum of nature and nurture our planet as it has nurtured us. Both, my book Return to Innocence and The Jengaburu Curse, my upcoming web series, are my pranaam to the sacred soil, water and air of my home.’
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