New Delhi/Guwahati, For most of his professional life, 2010-batch IAS officer Ashwani Kumar has worked to bring about change through government policies, administration and institutional reforms.
Now, Kumar is taking a different route to social change storytelling with his acting debut in a film Devyani, a story that explores a father’s concerns for his daughter and deals with women empowerment.
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Currently serving as Secretary to the Assam government’s Information Technology Department and Director of DITEC, Kumar sees his entry into cinema not as a departure from public service or a pursuit of celebrity status, but as an extension of his commitment to social welfare.
“Government can build institutions, create programmes, and change rules, but how do you change deep-seated societal attitudes?” asks Kumar.
“Not every change begins with a policy. Some changes begin with a story. If cinema can make even one family think differently about daughters and women’s strength, the effort will have been worthwhile.”
The film explores the bond between a father and his daughter and uses the intimate setting of a family to address larger questions concerning women’s safety, dignity, empowerment and the need for changing social attitudes.
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Kumar, an IAS officer of the 2010-batch of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, believes that while policy interventions can reach people at scale, stories can influence individuals and families at a more personal level.
In Devyani, he portrays a character that resonates with the larger themes of his administrative career, particularly the importance of empathy, dignity and empowerment.
The film seeks to move the conversation around women’s safety beyond awareness and towards empathy, while challenging traditional perceptions of women’s strength and role within Indian households.
For Kumar, this makes cinema a potentially powerful medium for social transformation, particularly in areas where conventional awareness campaigns may not always succeed in changing deeply rooted attitudes.
His experience in public administration, he believes, has also given him an understanding of people and society that he can bring to his acting.
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The film thus represents an experiment in using storytelling as an instrument of social impact, with Kumar seeking to combine his experience as an administrator with his interests in writing and acting.
While his medium has changed, Kumar says the underlying purpose remains the same public service.
Beyond administration, he is also a writer and actor who seeks to use storytelling and media to create a positive social impact.
For him, the move from government offices to the camera does not mark a change in his mission, but an expansion of the ways in which he can pursue it. “The medium is different. The mission remains service,” he said.
“I would urge people to watch ‘Devyani’ with an open mind. If the film makes even one family think differently about the way we look at daughters and women’s strength, I would consider the effort worthwhile,” Kumar said.
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This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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