"Many of them (the young people) had no idea of what had happened in 1984," Bose said. "Many did not know anything at all about the riots and murders. And those who knew anything att all thought it was an attack by Hindu mobs. Our film showed that it is the politicians who orchestrated the killing, and there were indeed many Hindus who opposed it and worked against it."
She also saw the film as a healing instrument between the two communities.
"When Sikhs came to me and told me how they had become victims in India," she recollected, "I would also tell them they were victims just like many other segments including the farmers who kill themselves in India because of unbearable poverty… They are the victims of the ruling classes, the ruling elite."
Bedabrata Pain, one of the inventors of the active pixel sensor technology that produced the world's smallest camera in 1995, and led to the digital imaging revolution, provided the seed funding for Amu -- about $500,000.
He asked the audience at the premiere how many of them knew of the 1984 killings. The genocide in Rwanda to Darfur is widely discussed, he said, but not the 1984 massacre. "It is important for India, if it has to go forward as a civil society to address the issue, never mind how late it is."
"The issue of Delhi 1984 remains very much alive because even after 20 years, it remains a matter of justice denied," he said. "It is not possible for India to move forward if wounds like these are allowed to fester. The political trend that was set in motion in 1984 continues to haunt the Indian polity."
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