Fact, fiction and flying objects: This new docufiction journeys across prehistory, colonial records and UFO encounters in Pavagada

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Sashi Sivramkrishna’s latest docufiction, The Incidents at Pawgur, 1830 , brings together several of his deep interests. “Mysuru history, the journey of the Scottish physician, botanist, and surveyor Francis Buchanan through South India, a fascination with prehistoric sites and UFOs,” lists the Bengaluru-based economist and documentary filmmaker, who recently screened the film at the Bangalore International Centre.

Blending documentary-style narration with fiction, it follows a contemporary UFO encounter that leads to a journey back in time through the drought-prone, starkly beautiful landscape of Pavagada, about 160 km north of Bengaluru in Tumkur district. The film follows two researchers and a local explorer as they retrace the path of 19th-century British surveyor John Warren, who may have also had a similar encounter.

“I wanted to tell a story, and there were several ways I could do it, including an audio podcast or feature film. Another way was to make a fiction film in a documentary style, which is what I did here,” says Sashi, who believes that using this format made the film more believable. “When we watch feature films, at the back of our minds, we know that it is fiction. But when you tell a story, like this, in a documentary style, you are more likely to convince people,” he believes.

While the film’s characters and overarching narrative are largely fictional, the history of Pavagada that underpins the storyline is not. “It is a work of fiction, but has got some history in it. The menhirs and the prehistoric sites are there, though I don’t name the villages on purpose, because many of these are private lands,” says Sashi, who worked with Shiva, an explorer familiar with the terrain, to make this film. “He had visited the forts and prehistoric sites showcased in the film, many of which were not even known to the local people of the region.”

Bengaluru-based economist and documentary filmmaker Sashi Sivramkrishna | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The inspiration for the 19th-century British surveyor came from Sashi’s own interest in Francis Buchanan’s journey, something he has researched extensively and even written about in a graphic novel titled A Journey into the Furnace of History: The Dying Embers of Ancient Iron-Smelting in India. “I like the idea of retracing a journey, so I kept that in mind,” says Sashi, who has visited Pavagada several times before and finds the landscape “fascinating. It is not like the Western Ghats or the Himalayas, but it has got its own beauty.” In his opinion, the rocky landscape of the region, “very quiet, very distant was particularly suited for UFOs.

The film idea first emerged in June-July 2025. “I got all these inputs from Shiva and started writing the script for the film. It is entirely scripted, with professional actors playing the roles of the various experts in the documentary,” he explains. Once Sashi completed the planning, recce, and obtaining permissions, he began shooting for the film in February 2026.