About

He wrote, directed, and composed the music for Yamuna Gently Weeps, a documentary on the 2004 demolition of Yamuna Pushta, one of India’s oldest and largest slums. He also authored the accompanying 300- page photo book of the same name.

Produced by Sainathann Communications and released with a 300-page photo book, it remains the only living record of the event. The film has been screened at international human rights festivals and discussed at universities worldwide.

Yamuna Pushta in Delhi was one of the oldest and largest slums in India. In reality, a chain of 22 small slums, located on a three-kilometre stretch along the Yamuna River, the settlement was home to 40,000 families, which housed more than 1,50,000 people and was in existence for decades. In early 2004, in a matter of weeks, 40,000 homes were demolished, without any rehabilitation plan and the past, present, future of 1,50,000 people were bulldozed to the ground. Barely 20 percent of those displaced were allotted plots, on a barren piece of land forty kilometres away from civilization. The remaining 80 percent were forced to take refuge on the streets along with their salvaged belongings, until they found some way out of their miserable plight. The film takes the viewer into the lives of those poor families, whose homes and future were brutally razed to the ground and through interviews with slum dwellers and politicians and interviews with eminent town planners, environmentalists and activists, showcases his point of view. Ruzbeh – the director, also through the eyes of those who lost it all, tells a heartrending tale of tears, courage, determination and most importantly, brings to light, the hollowness of the system and all that, which was once was held, sacred and beyond reproach. 40,000 homes were destroyed, displacing 1,20,000 people. Also destroyed were schools, businesses, and social service organizations which served the poor. It is the story of the demolition of the Yumana Pushta community in New Delhi, India, in early 2004.