Manhole is India’s first Real-Time Animated VR Film, conveying the reality of manual scavenging.”



THE EXPERIENCE

“Amitabh, a young law graduate, is compelled by the exigencies of poor economic life and marginalized caste-identity to enter the occupation of manual scavenging. Despite his experience solely with the smaller manholes, Amitabh, for some extra money, decides to get inside a large unsafe sewer.”

What does it take to get inside a sewer manhole without protective gear?
How would it be to submerge oneself inside the sewer, blocked with human excreta? Or does it take the spirit of another world to get inside the sewer and clean the drains? To explore these questions experientially comes the journey of Amitabh inside a ‘Manhole’.

Why is it important or relevant to portray it in Real-Time VR?
Because it is impossible to get to know the truth in the field and we chose VR.




THE CONTEXT

“In 2013, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act criminalized the practice and employability of any form of manual cleaning, carrying, disposing or handling of human waste. Yet, about 62,904 men and women are engaged in some form of manual scavenging.”

What is Manual Scavenging?
Manual scavenging is the occupation of sanitation work in India, involving manually cleaning and disposing of human excreta from public streets, insanitary dry latrines, septic tanks, gutters, sewers, or more often inside a street manhole.

* Number of deaths due to manual scavenging in India in 2019 is 110

Why is it still continued as a practice in society?
Untouchability crept its way into Indian society, marginalizing lower caste-identities and eventually creating a depressed class crushed under the weight of inhuman practices, thus forcing the only community into such act.



COLLABORATORS

This project is a collaboration between award-winning animators, VR filmmakers, and experienced developers and artists.

IMXD Lab IDC-IITB Collaborate with us?


REACH OUT

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