Created by the students of a Mumbai film school, a short film about a world minus technology is part of the 43rd annual student Oscars
Scenes from Kathakaar
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Directed by Abhimanyu Kanodia and produced by Shraddha Singh and Naveed M, alumni of Whistling Woods International, Kathakaar takes a look at the idea of what our lives would be if we weren't so dependent on technology.
"I have always been fascinated with traditional storytelling. We shouldn't let go of our oral tradition. How would we entertain ourselves without smartphones and the Internet? The thought of such a situation was the germ of the short film's story," shares Kanodia, who completed the film in his final year at the institute. It recently made it to the semi-finals in the Foreign Narrative Category at the 43rd Annual Student Academy Awards.
Scenes from Kathakaar
The plot revolves around Prakash (played by actor and lyricist Piyush Mishra), an old theatre projectionist who loses his job owing to changing technology and goes back to his native village. Depressed, he struggles to figure out what to do with his life. After he succeeds in making a crying child laugh with his storytelling skills, he gathers his confidence, takes a chance to become a storyteller for the entire village, thereby rediscovering his passion.
"When students come up with a concept for their annual presentation, the idea is sent to our Writer's Group comprising senior faculty members and HODs. Once they suggest tweaks and changes, the students have to pitch the story to the Head of Academics to get the budget approved. This one, for instance, cost close to $10,000. The standard and quality of the product is highly professional," says Chaitanya Chinchlikar, business head, Whistling Woods.
Director Abhimanyu Kanodia explains a scene to Piyush Mishra
"Only in rare cases do students cast actors outside the campus. In this film, we needed an older and senior performer. We provide students with the contact but it is up to them to convince the actor," he adds.
Kanodia tells us that he had seen Mishra's work and had him in mind as the lead from the start because of his versatility as a lyricist, singer, actor and a distinct style of dialogue delivery. "With Kathakaar, I went purely with my gut feeling. I reject a lot of scripts, but this one was different. I also had a question in mind as to how so much could be projected in a span of 10 minutes. The character grabbed my interest. I had no clue that the film would be so well made, and would go on to do so well," says Mishra.
Besides the Academy nod, the film has so far won 13 awards, including three international awards and has been officially selected at 30 film festivals across the globe. Amongst other honours, the film has bagged awards at the 5th Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival, 5th Washington DC South Asian Film Festival, II International Motivational Film Festival, Russia, and 6th Jagran Film Festival, Mumbai. On December 19 it was released on SonyLIV, a digital entertainment platform, and is available on Youtube too.
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