Civic Studio’s Pocket Change Announces Blue Collar Files, The First Of Its Kind of Mockumentary on lives and rights of informal workers.
Mumbai-based Civic Studios that focuses on civic entertainment to help build better democracies has announced the launch of ‘Blue Collar Files’, a mockumentary that documents the lives of blue-collared workers in a humorous light, through its YouTube channel Pocket Change. Forming a large part of the working population, the term ‘blue-collar’ worker refers to all individuals who work in both skilled and semi-skilled jobs in the informal sector of our economy.
Filmed in a documentary format, Blue Collar Files is the first of its kind mockumentary series by Pocket Change. A mockumentary is a genre of film making that makes use of satire and tongue-in-cheek humor to present fictional characters or events in a documentary style. The series follows the lives of blue-collared workers to satirize the lack of benefits and worker rights bestowed upon this class of workers, and how they deserve the same worker rights and professionalism as white collar office goers.
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A first-of-its-kind series, Blue Collar Files aims at breaking the unspoken barriers that exist in our Indian society, by conveying the inequitable treatment meted out to these unsung warriors through satire and poignant stills. With the first episode titled ‘Oye Watchman!’ uploaded on Civic Studios’ Pocket Change YouTube Channel, the series begins with documenting the life of Ravikant (starring Satish Ray, known for his role in Panchayat Season 2), as a watchman with the Surya Tarang co-operative housing society, and illustrates the struggles of his daily life while being remunerated with meagre wages for providing services 24X7. The episode traces his work life, the characters he interacts with and narrates the ever-widening chasm that exists between him and the more privileged members of the housing society he works at. Drawing the viewer’s attention to his low wages, the lack of leave benefits and the harsh conditions in which he works every day, ‘Oye Watchman!’ serves to highlight the need to treat this important class of workers with respect and equality, while engaging the audience with sardonic humor.
Talking about their new mockumentary series, Anushka Shah, Founder- Civic Studios, quipped " At Civic Studios, we are looking at civic issues that are often ignored but deserve the attention of the society at large, so as to bring about a positive change for those affected. Our ‘Blue Collar Files’ series aims at educating citizens about the hardships faced by blue-collared workers, while simultaneously drawing attention to unequal treatment being doled out by the white-collared section of society. We believe in speaking up for things that matter and it gives us immense pleasure to be leveraging the power of media to effect a change in mind-set of our viewers. Eventually, we hope ‘Blue Collar Files’ will speak of their untold stories, give voice to their issues and help bring a modicum of equality to the society we live in.”
A follow-up to ‘Oye Watchman’, Civic Studios has released the second installment in this series titled ‘Arey Didi’ featuring Indian film actress Prapti Elizabeth in the role of 25-year-old Sunita, a domestic help who juggles her strenuous work with her responsibilities as a single mother. Juxtaposing her daily life events at work with relatable aspects of her own personal and family life, ‘Arey Didi’ humorously narrates her difficulty in obtaining a day off for opening a bank account and goes on to throw light on the disparity that exists in the system wherein she finds it tough to pay her son’s tuition fee.
The third episode of the series, which is scheduled to go live on the 25th of August will chronicle the life of a peon/ office assistant. Featuring Rajesh Yadavas Ram Prasad, the episode navigates through the day and responsibilities of an assistant which goes way beyond the professional commitments and extends to running personal errands for the bosses.From dressing a certain way to working way beyond the ‘scope of work’, the episode showcases inequality that exists in every workplace and in the overall system. We still have a long way to go in terms of income equality, organizing the unorganized sector and financial inclusivity and ‘Blue Collar Files’ encapsulates that exact message beautifully and humorously.
As the series continues, they are exploring the lives of parlor ladies, barbers and sanitation workers in future episodes. Employing the perfect mix of humor, satire and heart wrenching visuals, the ‘Blue Collar Files’ thus offers an impactful visual experience, making it a thought provoking watch that throws light on a very important lesson of equality. Check out Civic Studios’ YouTube channel Pocket Change to discover many more stories as the series unfolds the lives of other similar daily wage workers from a more humane perspective.
ABOUT CIVIC STUDIOS
Civic Studios is a production house located in Mumbai, India that is focused on telling stories that entertain, engage and empower us to build a better world. It is spearheaded by Anushka Shah, and has been incubated at the MIT Media Lab under the Civic Entertainment Research Project. The studio’s vision is to leverage the power of storytelling for social change. It believes in creating compelling stories that attract audiences for their craft and for their voice- showcasing latent and ignored issues, as well as
imagining solutions that will strengthen us as a democracy. Civic Studios is geared to develop, finance and produce short and long format, fiction and nonfiction narratives for the OTT
landscape. It also runs Pocket Change- a Hindi YouTube comedy channel that creates relatable, short form, comedy content for young Indians with civic engagement at its heart.
