In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a collective of indigenous artists belonging to India’s ‘ex-criminal’ Denotified Tribes and associated with Budhan Theatre, decided to produce video-podcasts of the impact of the pandemic on the margins. This process was an effort to generate memory against processes of collective amnesia; and to usher indigenous communities to the digital space in a post-pandemic context, where the digital has become an essential component of our cultural and economic life. This film tells the story of the makers, who did not stop recording despite losing members of their own family along the way. Mhara Pichchar (Our Film) combines storytelling with music, poetry performance and narration to bring to the fore issues and debates that are absent in mainstream media. The film traverses several strands covering the personal and artistic trajectories of the protagonists, using behind-the-scenes interviews of the creators and footage from the podcast as the narrative trope.
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Director Biography - Dakxin ChharaDakxinkumar Bajrange (Chhara) is an award-winning filmmaker, playwright and an activist from the Chhara De-notified Tribes of Ahmedabad, India. He is a recipient of Ford Foundation International Fellowship (2010-11) to study Graduate studies in Theatre and Global Development at the University of Leeds, UK. His book ‘Budhan Bolta Hai’ (Budhan Speaks) was awarded first prize for Mahatma Gandhi Best Creative Writing on Human Rights by National Human rights Commission (NHRC) for 2010-11. He is also a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Arts Fellowship (2004-05) and Bhasha Fellowship (2002-03) to study art forms of nomadic and denotified communities in Gujarat. “Vimukta - Freedom Stories” (2021) is a book edited by him and Prof. Henry Schwarz of Georgetown University, published by Navayana Publication House.
He received the Best Director Award and Award for Excellence at the 7th Art Independent International Film Festival for the film “Budhan Podcast: Telling our COVID stories” (Jan 2022). He is a recipient of the Kerala State Award at International Documentary Short Film Festival of Kerala, recipient of the Best Director and Best Documentary Award at the Picasso Einstein Buddha International Film Festival, recipient of the Donald E. Lacy, Jr. Social Justice Award at the Studio City International Film Festival and the Award of Merit at the 7th Arts International Film Festival for his film “The Last Man” (2020). He was awarded Best Director for his film “COVID-19 Blame Game” at the 7th Arts International Film Festival, and nominated for the Social Impact Award for Theatre and Films (2019) by Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 2019. He was also nominated by members of public for the Fellowship for Freedom of Expression, INDEX, UK, 2018, nominated as one of the Heroes of Ahmedabad by Ahmedabad Mirror Newspaper in 2014 and invited by the United Nations to speak about India’s Nomadic and De-notified Tribes in New York in 2007. He has directed 94 fiction and non-fiction films/TV series on various developmental, social and political issues of India. He directed the critically acclaimed Bollywood film "Sameer", starring Zeeshan Mohammed, Seema Biswas and Anjali Patil. “Sameer” was released in theatres in India and on Netflix in addition to being screened at the New York Indian Film Festival (USA), Charlotte Asian Film Festival (USA) and Indian International Film Festival of Queensland (Australia) where he received the Best Director award for “Sameer”. Recently completed 20 episodes of the Budhan Podcast as Project Director, funded by University of Leicester, UK. Currently, he works as the Artistic Director at Budhan Theatre (budhantheatre.org). He has written and directed 13 plays and supervised 48 theatre productions of Budhan Theatre and performed in more than 1000 shows in different parts of India. He is also a founding director of Nomad Movies Pvt Ltd. His academic and journalistic articles on theatre and films have appeared in a number of national and international journals/newspapers. For more information about his work, recognitions, media links, please visit dakxinchhara.in |
Director Statement
Mhara Pichchar (Our Film) is a deeply personal film. As the world grappled with the impact of the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team of theatre artists felt compelled to give voice to the marginalised communities that were overlooked by mainstream media and government institutions. At a time when physical spaces were shut down, we turned to the digital realm to amplify the voices of those who were facing immense
challenges and document their stories of survival.
As a filmmaker, I took it upon myself to train the Budhan Theatre team in the art of filmmaking. The journey was a fascinating one, as these individuals had never imagined themselves as filmmakers. Our protagonists reside in humble dwellings and lead lives that society often stigmatises, labelling them "Born Criminals." They inhabit congested ghettos, yet the theatrewalas-turned-filmmakers' determination to tell stories that matter, remained
unwavering.
These aspirant filmmakers learned the craft of filmmaking through the act of creating this film. Our film unfolds with Ruchika Chhara, an actress from our theatre group and an aspiring filmmaker. The narrative goes on to explore the personal journeys and spaces of the filmmakers themselves, examining why they were driven to share the stories of others despite their own hardships during the pandemic. They employed personal interviews,
songs, dances, skits, poetry, and more to convey the narratives they believed needed to be shared. Tragically, we lost Ruchika to a lung-related illness during the making of this film.
At a time when dominant forces threaten to rewrite the narrative around the COVID-19 pandemic, through Mhara Pichchar, we invite the audience to bear witness to the haunting realities of the pandemic and embrace the call for a more compassionate and resilient future.
challenges and document their stories of survival.
As a filmmaker, I took it upon myself to train the Budhan Theatre team in the art of filmmaking. The journey was a fascinating one, as these individuals had never imagined themselves as filmmakers. Our protagonists reside in humble dwellings and lead lives that society often stigmatises, labelling them "Born Criminals." They inhabit congested ghettos, yet the theatrewalas-turned-filmmakers' determination to tell stories that matter, remained
unwavering.
These aspirant filmmakers learned the craft of filmmaking through the act of creating this film. Our film unfolds with Ruchika Chhara, an actress from our theatre group and an aspiring filmmaker. The narrative goes on to explore the personal journeys and spaces of the filmmakers themselves, examining why they were driven to share the stories of others despite their own hardships during the pandemic. They employed personal interviews,
songs, dances, skits, poetry, and more to convey the narratives they believed needed to be shared. Tragically, we lost Ruchika to a lung-related illness during the making of this film.
At a time when dominant forces threaten to rewrite the narrative around the COVID-19 pandemic, through Mhara Pichchar, we invite the audience to bear witness to the haunting realities of the pandemic and embrace the call for a more compassionate and resilient future.