The Salt Within.
THE SALT WITHIN turns the lens on the unseen lives of Kutch's traditional salt workers.
Fiilmmaker Sridhar Moorthy's short film THE SALT WITHIN explores the lives of the Agariya community, whose generations of labour in Gujarat's salt pans remain largely unseen by the consumers of the salt they produce.
Mumbai: Salt is among the most ordinary necessities in our everyday lives, yet the people behind its production are rarely part of the conversation. Filmmaker Sridhar Moorthy's short film THE SALT WITHIN turns its attention to the Agariyas, the traditional salt-working community of Gujarat, placing their lives, working conditions and quiet resilience at the heart of its story.
Set against the stark salt landscapes of Kutch, the 25-minute film follows a burned-out city doctor whose car breaks down in the desert. Her unexpected encounter with an Agariya family brings her face-to-face with a world far removed from her own and gradually rekindles her sense of purpose.
The film recently had a special industry screening in Mumbai, where National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar unveiled its poster in the presence of noted members of the film fraternity including Ashoke Pandit, National Award-winning filmmakers Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan and Shrabani Deodhar, acclaimed filmmaker Shashant Shah and Swapna Waghmare Joshi, among others.
The film drew high praise from the attending filmmakers. National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar called it a "brilliantly shot film," adding, "Everybody should watch this film."
National Award-winning filmmaker Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan described watching the film as a beautiful experience, saying, "Sridhar ne kamaal ka kaam kiya hai," while National Award-winning filmmaker Shrabani Deodhar said, "It just kept me spellbound for 25 minutes."
Filmmaker Shashant Shah called it "bahut hi pyaari film," adding, "This film makes you think." Swapna Waghmare Joshi said, "You kind of get hypnotized, but at the end of it you realize that very subtly he has made you think about something very, very important in life."
Ashoke Pandit described the film as "an eye-opener and an experience," adding, "This film really shook us up."
Written and directed by Sridhar Moorthy, The Salt Within stars Meenakshi Dixit, Mahesh Khilwani and Hency Chhaya. It is produced by John Livingstone, with cinematography by Vijay Mishra and original music by Yugandhar Deshmukh.
The Salt Within is currently continuing its journey through the film-festival circuit.
For media enquiries:
Sridhar Moorthy
Writer & Director - The Salt Within
Chief Creative Director - Smart Horse Productions
Official Hashtag: #TheSaltWithin
