Long before organ donation became a familiar part of public conversation, a Gujarati filmmaker decided to take on one of society’s deepest fears with a simple but powerful tool — cinema.
In 1972, Barodian filmmaker Dhiru Mistry made a 17-minute Hindi film on eye donation titled ‘Saath Kuch Na Jayega’. At a time when donating organs after death was surrounded by fear, myths and superstition, the film tried to show people that giving the gift of sight could help another person live a better life.
The film went beyond simply creating awareness. It challenged a deeply held social belief, reached audiences across the country and eventually won a National Award in 1974.
When Organ Donation Was Seen With Fear
In the 1970s, the idea of donating organs was not widely accepted.
Many people were afraid that donating their eyes after death could have consequences in their next life. One common belief was that a person who donated their eyes would be born blind in their next life.
Similar fears surrounded other forms of organ donation. People even believed that donating a kidney could mean being reborn without one.
Mistry wanted to challenge these beliefs and explain the importance of organ donation in a way that ordinary people could understand.
Rather than using a lecture or a speech, he chose to tell a story through film.
A Film Born From a Social Idea
Mistry had been interested in using cinema to educate people about important social issues.
When the Gujarat government approached him to make a film on a social subject, he asked for permission to make it about organ donation.
Officials were initially hesitant because they considered the subject sensitive. Mistry, however, convinced them that a film on the issue could help spread awareness and potentially save lives.
The government had initially allowed films to be made only in Gujarati. Mistry argued that the message should reach a wider audience and decided to make the documentary in Hindi.
Eventually, he received permission to proceed.
The Story of a Son Who Lives On Through His Eyes
At the centre of Saath Kuch Na Jayega is the story of a young boy who dies in an accident.
After his death, an NGO approaches his parents and tries to convince them to donate their son’s eyes.
The parents are initially reluctant. Like many people at the time, they have fears and doubts about what eye donation would mean after death. Eventually, they agree.
The emotional climax of the film delivers its central message: although the mother can no longer see her son, someone else will receive his eyes and the son will, in a sense, continue to see the world through another person’s eyes.
The message was designed to turn grief into an act that could give another person the gift of sight.
Filming the Eye Donation Procedure Was Difficult
Making the film itself was not easy.
Mistry wanted to include the actual process of removing the eyes after death. But eye donation was still uncommon in the 1970s, and families were often unwilling to allow cameras to record such a procedure.
After facing difficulties, the filmmakers were eventually able to shoot the eye-removal procedure at a hospital in Ahmedabad.
The film therefore combined an emotional story with real images to make its message more powerful.
A Personal Experience Changed the Story
During the making of the film, Mistry faced a deeply personal moment.
His grandmother, Diwali Ba, died of old age while the film was being shot.
Mistry decided to donate her eyes to SSG Hospital.
For him, the subject was no longer only something he was presenting through cinema. His own family had become part of the message he was trying to give society.
National Award Recognition
After completion, the film was submitted to the government and quickly attracted attention.
In 1974, Saath Kuch Na Jayega won a National Award in the category of Best Educational and Instructional Film.
Mistry received the award from then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in Delhi.
He accepted the honour alongside several prominent figures from Indian cinema and music, including Girish Karnad, Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray and Yesudas.
For Mistry, the recognition was deeply satisfying because it showed that the effort behind the film had achieved its purpose.
The Film Reached Audiences Beyond the Award
The film’s impact did not stop with the National Award.
Parts of the documentary were shown during screenings in theatres across the country, allowing the message about eye donation to reach a much wider audience.
Mistry later recalled that the film was widely appreciated by viewers.
What began as an attempt to challenge a social taboo had therefore grown into a larger public-awareness effort.
A Message That Still Matters
More than five decades after the film was made, its central idea remains relevant: one person’s death can potentially give another person a chance to see, live or heal.
Mistry’s approach was simple but ahead of its time. He recognised that changing people’s minds about a sensitive subject required more than information. It required addressing their fears and emotions.
By telling the story of a family that chooses donation despite its grief, he used cinema to question superstition and encourage compassion.
At 87, Mistry continues to stand by the message that inspired his award-winning film. He has also pledged to donate his own body, extending his commitment to the same principle beyond the screen.
What he created in 1972 was only a 17-minute film. But its message was much larger — that something given after death can become a gift of life, sight and hope for someone else.
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