Watch the electricity thief of Kanpur in Katiyabaaz

A new documentary film Katiyabaaz by filmmakers Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar addresses the issue of energy crisis in India. While those living in big cities rarely have to endure power cuts,  in most non-urban parts of India, it’s a very different story. Katiyabaaz takes us to the city of Kanpur where power cuts are as much a part of people’s life as sunrise and sunset.  In the trailer of the film we are introduced to an electricity thief called Loha Singh who is renowned in the town for his electricity-providing skills during a ’load shedding’. Katiyabaaz, for all those who aren’t familiar with the terminology, means someone who has mastered the art of stealing electricity with the help of an illegal wire, popularly known as katiya. Singh is one such person. Loha Singh knows his job and does it well. We hear Singh boasting about his talent to the audiences. Unabashedly Singh claims that he is the best ‘katiyabaaz’ of the area and even if a wild storm blows over Kanpur, his wiring won’t fail. We hear several workshop owners telling that it is just for Singh that they can afford to run their machines. [caption id=“attachment_1157353” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A screengrab from the youtube.[/caption] While Singh is busy lighting up people’s life (although quite illegally), the first female chief of the local electricity supply company is determined to put an end to illegal electricity supply. She alleges that everyone in Kanpur  is so used to getting electricity for free that no one wants to pay for it anymore. They think they are entitled to it for free because they are poor. It’s her versus Loha Singh and you’ll have to watch the film, which will be screened at the upcoming Mumbai Film Festival, to find out what happens to that contest. Watch the trailer of the film here: