Jaipur: Director General Prisons, Rajasthan IPS Rajeev Dasot named the road in front of Jaipur Central Jail after the film ‘Road to reform’. The inauguration was done on 28th June 2021 by the Director-General Prisons in the presence of Additional Director General Prisons, IPS Malini Agarwal, Inspector General Prisons, IPS Alok Vashisht, Inspector General Prisons Vikram Singh along with other high ranking officers, and jail staff.
It is indeed a proud moment for our nation as for the first time in the history of World Cinema all the conventional notion of filmmaking has been successfully challenged, broken, and reinvented in making this path-breaking one-hour long fiction film, ‘Road to Reform’.
Rajasthan Prisons in association with Ronkel Brothers Production has made this revolutionary and poignant film. The concept of the film is by Director General Prisons, Rajasthan, IPS Rajeev Dasot. The film has been Written and Directed by 3 times Limca book of records holding Mumbai-based Filmmaker Sanjeev Sharma. The film has been funded by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India.
The film is historic in every sense as for the first time ever Real Prisoners along with Prison Officers and Jail staff are cast as actors; the first time a feature film is entirely shot inside real jail premises; first time jail is shown in an altogether different light; the first time a major paradigm shift on how we see the prison, prisoners and prison officers; the first time the message that the film conveys has been practiced in making of the film itself by casting real prisoners as actors; and for the first time a film serves way beyond just being a means of entertainment to being used as a psychological tool for the reformation of prisoners as well as society.
The film follows the journey of two protagonists Dinkar and Seema and portrays their struggle in society after prison. The film truthfully hits our conscience and shows us a mirror of our prejudiced mindset towards prison as well as prisoners.
Even though the setting is local, the film addresses a pertinent global issue. It challenges the popular mindset of society towards prison and prisoners which is mostly negative and almost the same across the globe. This film universally promotes prisons as “Reformation” Centres and releases prisoners as “newly born children”. The film preaches forgiveness and acceptance as the need of the hour values and the best possible way forward for creating a better world.
Earlier, the film ‘Road to Reform’ was virtually launched on 17th June 2021 by Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan Shri Ashok Gehlot in the presence of Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Principal Secretary (Home), Principal Secretary to CM, Director General of Police along with other high ranking officers and dignitaries. Upon release, the film has been receiving tremendous appreciation from all sectors of society.
Getting inspired by the message of the film, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan Shri Ashok Gehlot instructed the authorities to work on establishing a placement division in Jail so that reformed and released prisoners reenter society with a job in their hands and have a respectful rehabilitation.
The impact of the film has been such that after multiple screenings and seeing the striking visuals, it moved the Director General Prisons Shri Rajeev Dasot to ponder upon and take the call to change the dress code of prisoners across all the jails of Rajasthan. Now it has been changed from white to sky blue. It is a great deal and makes a strong statement that life in prison is a life of possibilities rather than a life of hopelessness.
This is just the beginning of the film’s impact and the first step towards a new perspective. We strongly believe that the film will act as a strong catalyst for such unique reformatory measures globally in times to come. Road to Reform is a rare gem and one of the most precious jewels in the Indian film repertoire. It is a timeless film without which World Cinema is and will be incomplete. It is a revolution in the world of filmmaking and definitely inspires other filmmakers to innovate and use cinema for a greater cause
