Mumbai: DocuBay, the global streaming service from IN10 Media Network, has announced the release of its latest original, ‘12 Digit Masterstroke – The Untold Story of Aadhaar’ that unravels a behind-the-scenes story of the creation of the world's largest social identity program, culminating into what is today known as “Aadhaar Card”, crafting a unique identity for over 1.4 billion Indians.
Motivated to highlight topics of national and global importance, DocuBay depicts the untold story of an unlikely team of public and private sector professionals who came together at UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) to design & implement India's ground-breaking Aadhaar card system. The documentary explores logistical, technological, financial & bureaucratic challenges faced by the team, spearheaded by tech wizard Nandan Nilekani, aiming to achieve something that no one had attempted before in India. Team Aadhaar worked under two governments led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“While there is a lot of awareness about the remarkable initiatives that have benefited over a billion beneficiaries of various government schemes, through the Aadhaar project, not many people are aware of the gigantic efforts which were required from a team of technocrats led by Nandan Nilekani that executed the project to fruition,” said DocuBay COO Girish Dwibhashyam. “We are thrilled and grateful to have captured this historic story into our DocuBay Orignal film.”
The documentary, narrated by entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo, features UIDAI former CEO Ram Sewak Sharma, an IAS officer, who articulates technology in a 'Dabang' way. Ganga Kapavarapu, a tech buff who brought a financial focus to the program. Srikanth Nadhamuni, the 'tech guru', introduced a powerful technological armoury for the creation of Aadhar. Shankar Maruwada, 'Sir Panch', played a key role in marketing Aadhaar with a small team of four. Pramod Verma the 'Chief Royal Architect' of Aadhar sketched the building blocks for the program. Lastly, Ashok Pal Singh modernised the Indian postal system through digitalisation and their stories of overcoming challenges.
“How do you encapsulate a five-year rollercoaster journey into 50 minutes,” said Wide Angle Films founder and CEO Sujata Kulshreshtha, on the challenges faced during research that underwent to produce the film. She added, “We had to overcome the challenges like lack of archival material from the period of execution and to get access to the key members of the team. Our team did in-depth research, even before we formulated the narrative as the documentary brings this incredible ‘made-in-India’ story to viewers.”
Today in India, with the introduction of UIDAI's Aadhaar system, transformation has been enabled across 600,000 plus villages and 400 plus cities in India as the unique biometric secure number has become the bedrock for multiple government schemes. From enabling financial inclusion to powering direct benefit transfer schemes, Aadhaar has reshaped lives, earning international recognition as a model for digital identity systems.
‘12 Digit Masterstroke’, produced by Wide Angle Films, is now exclusively available on DocuBay, inviting audiences worldwide to witness the extraordinary story behind India's Aadhaar revolution.
