The circuitous path of a mountainous landscape takes the viewer into Ladakh. As a man stands before a grave, his head bowed down, the past is invoked, portraying a life of hard physical labour, water and electricity problems, the determination of a boy to leave it all behind, and the resilience of a compassionate father who encourages him on this path. 
The film is the story of Issa and his son Ali, and how the duo navigates a difficult life while refusing to give in to the hardships. There is further the attempt to embellish it with a poetic approach that invokes a metaphorical internal journey, the divine, and its intrinsic presence in the social milieu of the film, alongside the presence of local folklore and witches. 
The most notable aspect of the end result is the performance of the protagonist, supported well by the young actor in Ali, alongside a very earnest desire to invoke a sense of the past, memory, grief, and how it all ties a character back to their origins and roots.

The Pilgrimage | Spotlight

Dhun is poetry about life - it’s small joys, and big disappointments, it’s few victories and many trials.
Through a beautiful, moving lyric, the film strings together the fears, anxieties and issues faced by
various individuals at different stages in their life. On one level, the film is also a meditation on the
process of writing and the many dilemmas that one encounters within the creative method itself. On another, it
asserts that these creative confusions are not removed from the ethical dilemmas of life.

Dhun | Short Film Nominee

The film is about poetic reflections of a young boy trying to make space for himself amidst the hustle-bustle of his daily life. The visual narrative is set against a voiceover that takes the viewer into the life of the protagonist. Rihai attempts to be an exploration of his dreams while he also tries to fulfil his duties. For fiction to be powerful, it has to be set in reality. Irrespective of where the narrative goes, the roots always find their way back to it. This is precisely why the image of a young boy riding his bike without a helmet is a negligence that could have been avoided. Overall, the product exhibits potential that can be developed in subsequent projects.

Rihai | Short Film Nominee

The short film is an experimental attempt by a single-member-crew to talk about landscapes and the environment. As visuals move from one corner of the world to the next, images of industrial pollution, heaps of waste and open fields are all presented to the viewer for the narrative to be able to convey its point.

The World Tour | Lockdown Film Challenge

A man sets out on a journey by road on his bike. Down the path, he runs out of supplies with no
place nearby to even fetch water to drink. Then an out-of-the ordinary event happens to him. 
The film sets up big expectations and aspirations for itself by choosing a macro context and the
philosophising of its story. It would have perhaps benefited from more intimacy between the narratorial voice, which seems to be foreshadowing something rare that is about to happen, and the cinematic translation of this intention. Overall, Sarvantharyami comes across as the endeavour of a small, but determined crew, devoting themselves to tie the various elements of the film together.

Sarvantharyami | Short Film Nominee

The short film attempts a documentation of the experiences of a ten-rupee-coin that wakes up to find himself in alien surroundings. As he gets his bearings, he realises that he is perhaps not alone. The soap bar and onions come forth to aid him complete his journey. He stumbles from one corner of the house to another, running into different family members, avoiding encounters which could prove to be too close for comfort. At the end of it all, however, there awaits a lesson for him as well as the viewer.

Most Viewed

Genres

Awards

Follow Us

Quick Links