- In this coming-of-age story about ending the stigma of the disabled being labeled as 'sinners in a past life', a blind girl, late on puberty due to malnutrition, achieves womanhood with the help of a philanthropic doctor.
- In this coming-of-age story, a blind girl, who is unable to reach puberty due to malnutrition and neglect, achieves womanhood with the help of a philanthropic doctor. This documentary also explores the stigma of the blind being considered sinners in a past life- asking the question: Are the blind 'Born to Live In Near Darkness?" No, they are Born to Live in Near Daylight. For generations, the visually impaired didn't have access to proper nutrition and care, which led to various health problems and children missing school or dropping out entirely. In a rural village outside Chennai, a philanthropic doctor leads a quiet revolution, fighting against this deeply rooted stigma that surrounds the visually impaired and disabled. With the help of his innovative Braille charts, which address issues related to hygiene, IQ, nutrition and traffic safety (H.I.N.T project), blind people are finally empowered to go after their destiny.
- This film gives a brief account of problems faced by blind persons. Film maker has tried to help the suffering blind persons to live a better life by observing cleanliness,consuming nutricious food, personal hygine and keeping the environment around them neat and clean. Realising the problems they face, during crossing traffic roads, he has given guidelines on traffic rules and the whole messages are converted into brailey language so that they can easily follow properly. Perhaps this is the first time such information's like personal hygiene, nutritious food, IQ level evaluations, general cleanliness are documented in their own brayley language. Dr. Chandrasekhar s tone us so affectionate and friendly that the patient feels homely and is at ease to tell all his problems. Doctor encourages them to bring the best in them and try to align with the problems and to win over it. Really it boosts the morale of downtrodden people and tries to improve their present life to a better assured confident life. This film deserves the due recognition in this aspect.—rkkannanmaps
- Producer Statement: B.L.I.N.D, the documentary film was made to create universal awareness on empowering the blind. It revolves around the life of several blind school students, whom Dr. T.S Chandrasekar met during his free medical camp, and the ideas he innovated to empower them. He is an internationally reputed physician, and recipient of the prestigious Presidential PADMA SHRI award from the Government of India. He believes in the motto "The Empowered should empower the Under-privileged." This was driving force behind him starting the MedIndia Charitable Trust, a non profit Non Government Organization, to serve the underprivileged He focused on the visual, hearing impaired, and physically challenged school students- and worked towards their betterment, independence and dignity. His innovative ideas in these areas have won him three prestigious state and two national awards, and his innovative projects have implemented in nearby countries too.
Director Statement: What drew me to this project was hearing stories about the issues faced by the blind in India, and around the world. Being a visual artist and filmmaker, I could sympathize with people who couldn't see the world around them. After doing some research, my mind was blown open by the superstitions and taboos surrounding this issue, in India. The blind (and other handicapped) were often neglected because they were believed to be repaying past sins. Blind women and girls were the hardest hit.
India is home to the largest blind population in the world. Of the 37 million people across the globe who are blind, over 15 million are from India. What's worse, 75% of these are cases of avoidable blindness, thanks to the country's acute shortage of optometrists and donated eyes for the treatment of corneal blindness. While India needs 40,000 optometrists, it has only 8,000.
We follow the life of an adolescent blind Indian girl, who is unable to achieve puberty due to malnutrition and neglect. She is treated by a philanthropic gastroenterologist, who has been working on a set of innovative Braille charts to help the visually impaired deal with issues related to Nutrition, Hygiene, IQ development and Road safety. With his help and mentorship, she gets back on the path to health, and finally becomes a woman. We go on that journey with her as we learn more about the issue plaguing the visually impaired of India.
We met four blind Indian girls from Chennai prior to the shoot, and we decided to focus the film on these four stories. Especially touching was the story of the lead character, Shweta, who had lost her sight at a young age due to not getting proper medical treatment. Her optic nerves were damaged beyond repair. She suffered from malnutrition and illness, owing to which she had not matured, at fifteen. It was crushing to imagine both what these girls had been through and how they could go on. But equally arresting was the palpable resilience of these girls. The fact that they could find ways to create meaning in their lives, after such experiences, was awe-inspiring. This is what initially drew me to this story.
I wanted to make a film that allowed audiences to feel what I felt when I first went to the Blind schools in Chennai. It was important to me that the audience not go numb, or be so torn up that they shut down and stopped listening. So the balancing between the devastation these girls had suffered and the incredible force of hope and joy that they embodied was something I grappled with a lot.
The shifting tones between pathos, humor, irreverence and joy were something I strived for, trying to keep the film visceral and surprising in its emotion and arc.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
What is the French language plot outline for B.L.I.N.D: Born To Live In Near Darkness (2020)?
AnswerMore from this title
More to explore
Most anticipated Indian movies and shows
Percentage shows amount of top page views.