Community Correspondents

Amol Lalzare

State: MAHARASHTRA

Amol Lalzare is an auto-rickshaw driver and a community journalist from Mumbai. He documents life and struggles of the marginalised communities in the maximum city.

Amol Lalzare balances life as an auto-rickshaw driver and a community journalist who is documenting life and struggles of the marginalised communities in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. Previously a camera person in Bollywood, Amol found that the film world does provide for survival, but not enough for the mind. “We were just puppets for directors who worked long working hours, in the background.” Having learned the aesthetics of film-making from the largest film industry in the world, Amol has used this skill to make videos to help residents of his home Sathenagar and millions of Mumbaikars dwelling in slums, by voicing their issues and solving them by holding the responsible authorities accountable.

Amol finds that the city he loves seems to forget its people and leave them behind. Concerned by superficial, surface reporting by the mainstream media, Amol knew that becoming a part of media himself will give better chances to voice the community's real problems.

His first foray into filmmaking was when he was trained by VV as a part of the Community Video Unit for Akshara, an organisation in Mumbai. In the unit, he worked on the video documenting the negligence experienced by the marginalised communities in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country. After the project ended, Amol joined Video Volunteers as a Community Correspondent.

Since then, armed with a hand-held camera, Amol has been documenting a range of issues affecting the marginalised, from poor sanitation to corruption to shrinking spaces in the city and displacement in the slums, where more than half of the city's residents live. He uses the documentation to put forth an evidence-based report in front of the authorities to find a solution to the problem. A case study was written in 2013 about Amol’s work by the Video4Change network. The case study looked at how one of Amol’s videos had led to a bridge being installed over a railroad track, near to a community where many blind people lived.

Amol feels that the mainstream movies and television have ignored to bring a narrative of a lower-middle-class character on the screen. Added to that, the death of single-screen, affordable theatres and affordable channel connections has meant that the lower-middle class has limited access to entertainment and art. His stories fill this void among the community. “They see situations similar to their lives, familiar faces and immediately feel a connection to these stories. A story true in one slum, resonates with another slum,” says Amol. One day he aims to create a television channel, specially meant for the marginalised communities to gain knowledge and entertainment through documentaries and drama.

Videos from Amol

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Mumbai Witnessing Forced Evictions and Demolitions Repeatedly

 
/ May 20, 2022

The slum dwellers of Pestom Sagar Area, Chembur, Mumbai have developed some really thick resilience. Their slums have been tossed and toppled away so many times that their bitterness is turning to rage now.

No Cards

Bombay High Court Directs Striking MSRTC Employees to Resume Duty Without Fear  

 
/ April 8, 2022

The MSRTC employees are demanding Government employee status and hence to be able to receive the benefits of a dignified employment.

Maharashtra’s ‘Mini-Lockdown’ Has Daily Wage Labourers Living On The Edge of Survival | COVID 19

 
/ May 14, 2021

Many have decided to stay back in Maharashtra while others are migrating back to their home towns.

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Mumbai’s Municipal Body Destroys 60 Shanties Without Notice!

 
/ November 18, 2020

The richest municipal body of Asia doesn't care about its poor residents and makes them homeless overnight.

Community Survey

Migrants Returning to Mumbai After COVID-19 Lockdown Are Struggling For Survival

 
/ November 2, 2020

With the lockdown officially over but the pandemic still raging, how do the urban poor in India survive?

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Hathras Protests Reach Mumbai Amid Calls For Justice

 
/ October 16, 2020

Many civil society organisations are questioning the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh.

When A Family Member Tests Positive – Part 2

 
/ July 14, 2020

Video Volunteers' correspondent Amol Lalzare brings the second part of his experience inside a quarantine centre in Mumbai.

Migrant from Mumbai Forced to Live in the Open | COVID 19

 
/ May 29, 2020

The ongoing lockdown has compelled thousands of people to return to their villages. However, in the absence of public transport, many are forced to arrange for their own vehicles or walk on foot, several hundred kilometres along with their whole family. Video Volunteers community correspondent Amol Lalzare brings to us...