The Mahatma is travelling around the places where he once began his struggle for the rights of the indigo cultivators. This time, he will live through the Mahatma Gandhi film festival. The Gandhi Film Festival begins on Sunday, January 8 with Tharu Mahatso and remembrance of Ex. Prime Minister Late Shri Chandrshekhar's Padyatra ( 6th Jan - 25th June 1985) and last till 30 January 2012.

It will be held in 18 Panchayats of Gaunaha block, West Champaran and 4 Places of East Champaran, Bihar. The festival is being organized by Gandhi Shodh Sansthan- Bharat Yatra Trust and Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon. The day long activity around the festival will consist of street plays, village meetings, and film shows on the various issues that were dear to Gandhi says Birendra Soni, the Director of Gandhi Shodh Sansthan and Chief organiser of the festival.

A unique feature is that the costs of hosting the festival is being shared by the Panchayats, which will provide food to the performing teams and fuel for the generator. "The festival in all the places will start off with Nukkad Natak and its themes are RTE, RTI, Gram Swaraj, health and hygiene followed by a discussion on Mahatma Gandhi's Gram Swaraj movement," says Ashok Chaubey from Gandhi Shodh Sansthan. The 'Jan Shiksha Bhavan' nukkad team from Rampurwa will be performing plays based on RTI, RTE, health and hygiene. ACT India, Kasturba Educational Trust, Jan Shiksha Sansthan, Bodh Evam Mahatma Sthal Vikas Trust, Gandhi smarak Sangrahalay Motihari evam Bhitihasrwa are the co organizers. The Gandhi Film Festival is coming to Bihar for the first time.

Feature films and documentaries related to Gandhi will be shown in all the block's according to their schedule. The Gandhi Shodh Sansthan Bhitihawra and Bharat Yatra Trust,Delhi have made the effort. A huge number of men and women participated in the discussions and witnessed nukkad plays [street theatre] on themes of self - governance, Right to Education, and Right to Information. However, inclement weather on some days puts a damper on the programme, as was the case on Tuesday, where rain and cold stopped performances and film shows. 'The team is enthusiastic, and the response is great, we will visit those villages later," says Ashok Chaubey, the team leader. 'It's true that the cold wave conditions cause some problems, but we are hopeful that the weather will improve soon.