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‘Agent of Happiness’: A documentary questions if Bhutan is a happy country
Summary
A film about Bhutan’s happiness surveyors, in competition at the MAMI Mumbai film festival 2024, captures the contrast between data and the emotions behind the numbers
In the late 1970s, the king of Bhutan coined the term “gross national happiness". GNH parameters are used to measure progress, well-being and happiness, placing their importance over economic pursuits alone. This programme has been pivotal in shaping development policies and governance in Bhutan, a landlocked nation in eastern Himalayas that is often ranked as one of the happiest in the world. Happiness surveyor Amber Kumar Gurung of the Happiness Centre is the subject of a new documentary, Agent of Happiness (in competition at the MAMI Mumbai film festival 2024).
The English-Nepali-Dzongkha language film, co-directed by Arun Bhattarai from Bhutan and Dorottya Zurbó from Hungary, opens with picture postcard images of a cow relaxing in a verdant field, cylindrical prayers wheels, and traditional houses sheltered by mountains. We meet Amber as he cares for his aging mother, who urges her 40-year-old son to marry so he has someone to look after him. At work, Amber takes part in a training session for the GNH survey. The extensive form includes 148 questions across nine categories. Amber and his colleague Guna Raj Kuikel set out in a car, listening to old Hindi film songs, discussing Amber’s love life as they travel through the villages recording data.
The survey captures data on the number of cows, goats, sheep, tractors, cars owned; calculates a sense of compassion, connection to nature, trust in neighbours; measures living standards, sense of karma and work-life balance, among other things. The surveyors also ask if the person feels jealous, selfish, depressed, sad, etc. When asked if she is aware of the significance of the survey, a woman describes it as “when governance and individual well-being go hand in hand". Bhattarai and Zurbó were shooting their previous film in eastern Bhutan about seven years ago when happiness agents walked into the house of one of their subjects. “We immediately got close to Amber, because he was very funny and such a great listener. At that time, we didn’t have any intention to make this film. Later, when we decided to do the film, we remembered him. That’s when we found out that he’s also in search of love. We thought this is a great premise for a film," says Bhattarai.
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Agent of Happiness premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Amber’s own struggle with loneliness offered a touching counterpoint to the story of happiness in Bhutan. “I have a car and a job but my life is empty without a wife. If it all comes together, it’ll be happiness," Amber says to his colleague. The directors followed the two surveyors during their rounds and picked the stories they found most interesting. “After the survey, we would go back to meet those people from time to time, over the course of two years, to do little portraits with them. We found all the characters while actually going on the survey with Amber," said Bhattarai.
The happiness survey serves as a tool for the filmmakers to enter into different lives, to create a rich portrait of the country, and also ask questions about the nature of happiness. It allows them to highlight the contrast between the official numbers and the emotions behind those numbers. According to a 2023 GNH survey, 93.6 % Bhutanese are happy, a statistic that is juxtaposed with Amber’s own plaintive quest for happiness.
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The directors conclude each survey with a happiness report card alongside a portrait of the subject. An older man, who boasts of having three wives and 11 children, scores 10/10; he’s oblivious to the tears his wives are holding back. A 17-year-old-girl is plagued with worry about her alcoholic mother and younger sibling. Her “sense of worry" is 10, her “sleeping hours/ day" are 3, her happiness index is 4 out of 10. A widower who longs for his departed wife replies to the question “How happy are you?" by saying, “I’m as happy as the number of grains in my rice storage." His happiness rating: 7 out of 10. Transwoman Dechen Selden, whose biggest cheerleader is her ailing mother, scores a low 3 out of 10.
For many of the characters spotlighted by the filmmakers, interpersonal relationships and family form the greatest source of happiness or grief. Bhattarai said that the people of Bhutan appreciate this survey and the government’s initiative of aiming for happiness. “They take the survey positively and seriously," he said, adding that, for many, the two-hour visit by the surveyors who take time listening to answers to 148 questions was “like therapy". He cited the example of the 17-yearold daughter of an alcoholic mother. “It was almost like she was waiting for someone to come to the house and ask the questions so that she could pour her heart out, because she couldn’t say those things to her mother. Of course, you can question whether these statistics are accurate, because happiness is such a subjective thing."
Udita Jhunjhunwala is a writer and critic. She posts on X @Udita J
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