While We Watched Review: A Testament of Time And A Story Of A Journalist’s Resilience (Image: whilewewatched.com)
In the documentary, While We Watched, we see scenes where Ravish Kumar is preoccupied and looking at a blank document, pondering what to write. His words are measured, with the power of articulation, and carry weight. For him, journalism entails a lot of consideration, research, and perception. More than the oft-repeated claim “search for truth” or “torchbearers of truth” assigned to journalism, it is also about belief, being true to oneself, and giving voice. In the megalomania of what is now called the media frenzy, Ravish Kumar was one such journalist who stood out, still giving the best fight, when the media was celebrating deceit, lies, and deception. The movie traces the loneliness a man has to endure and the struggles he has to face for choosing journalism in its purest sense.
In the Vinay Shukla directorial, the documentary gives a look into Mr. Kumar, the person and the persona, as well as what NDTV was like before its acquisition by billionaire Gautam Adani. In the midst of dwindling newsrooms, the movie documents the faith of some people towards an institution and their conviction in the work they put in, even though they are facing tough times. The movie reflects how, in the chaos of revenge mongering news debacles and false propagation of nationalist ideologues, grim reality took the backseat. While We Watched is also a testament to the time, demonstrating the shift Indian media witnessed and reminiscing about old-school journalism—journalism is the defender of democracy.
The witch hunt on lawyers, activists, and poets, grouping them as urban naxals; the attack on Umar Khalid; the Hapur lynching case; the Pulwama terror attack; the Balakot airstrikes; and the 2019 general elections are some of the incidents that come under discussion in the documentary. The period also witnessed the emergence of propaganda journalism and divisive politics. Media, especially TV news, played a key role in pushing false premises into viewers” heads and spreading media-fanned nationalism. It then inflicted people’s minds and thoughts, causing them to forget about the pertinent issues affecting their daily existence and survival. The religiously polarising debates, the revenge mongering thirst in news anchors, the presentation of every incident prefixed with “nationalism/nationalist” ideologies, and the infusing of “Us vs. them” coinages creating an ever-present nation’s enemies were all clearly manipulated narratives serving to silence the voices that are criticising and forcing the rulers of the state to be held accountable.
The competitors targeting Mr. Kumar called him “anti-national,” and the movie shows repeated hate messages and death threats he received via calls. In one instance, he asks the caller to sing the patriotic song Sare Jahan Se Accha with him. One scene also shows Zee Hindustan’s billboard with the message, “Ravish ka Time Ab Nahi Raha Prime!” (Ravish’s time is no longer Prime!). Similarly, NDTV is facing a tough time through public and corporate boycotts, suspension of funds, financial fraud charges against directors, signal disruptions, and low TRP ratings. It was a witch hunt against journalists and an establishment for asking difficult questions to people in power.
A cake cutting became a recurrent visual throughout the movie, indicating the staff leaving NDTV. The lonely frame of Mr. Kumar becomes more apparent as he traverses alone through the roadblocks to handle a newsroom in crisis with dwindling TRP rates. Even when the misinformation decided the narrative and influenced people’s decision-making powers, Mr. Kumar said on TV, “A viewer is defined by their ways of seeing, so keep watching.” There are scenes where he plays with his youngest daughter, enjoying her singing, and one time he playfully asks, When will he be able to sing like her? to which she replies, “Work on making your voice strong enough; to that, you have to keep trying,” which indeed was his motto in career. The movie also captures him receiving the acclaimed Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2019 in appreciation of his brave journalism and his work towards journalism’s noblest aim, i.e., advancing democracy.
The Award comes as hope in the darkest of times, and the speech Mr. Kumar gave receiving the award is a lesson of wisdom not only to journalists but to everyone: “Not all battles are fought for victory – some are fought to tell the world that someone was there on the battlefield.” The movie runs for 1 hour and 22 minutes, and Shukla made the movie by closely following Mr. Kumar for two years with his camera. On July 30, While We Watched was previewed at the IFC Center in New York. Shukla is well known for his previous work, An Insignificant Man, a documentary based on Arvind Kejriwal and the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party.
