''Chauranga'' is a 2016 Hindi film. It is the debut feature film of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n writer-director Bikas Ranjan Mishra, produced by

Onir Onir (born Anirban Dhar, 1 May 1969) is an Indian film and TV director, editor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his film ''My Brother…Nikhil'', based on the life of Dominic d'Souza, starring Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli ''it'' ...

and

Sanjay Suri Sanjay Suri (born 6 April 1971) is an Indian actor and film producer of Hindi cinema. He made his debut in the film '' Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (1999)''. He went on to star in many supporting roles, but finally got his big break with '' Jhankaar ...

. The film was developed at the Screenwriters' Lab organized by National Film Development Corporation of India in collaboration with

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

and the ScriptStation of

Berlinale Talent Campus The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

, a part of

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. The Film won Golden Gateway of India Award for Best Film (India Gold 2014) at the 16th Mumbai Film Festival. The film was released worldwide on 8 January 2016.

Plot

This is based on Dalit-Brahmin relations in the villages tells how Dalits are exploited. A fourteen-year-old

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

boy (Soham Maitra) is growing up in an unnamed corner of India. His dream is to go to a town school like his elder brother (

Riddhi Sen Riddhi Sen is an Indian film actor who predominantly works in Bengali films. He is a regular actor of the theatre group Swapnasandhani and is an alumnus of South Point school, Kolkata. In 2010, he received a special talent award from his schoo ...

) and his reality is to look after the pig that his family owns. His only escape is to sit atop a Jamun tree and adore his beloved (

Ena Saha Ena Saha (born 28 May 1996), is an Indian film and television actress who predominantly appears in Bengali films and television shows. Career She has appeared in a number of Bengali TV serials, including ''Raat Bhor Bristi'', ''Bou Katha Kau'' ...

) passing by on her scooter. His unspoken love is as true as his mother’s helplessness who cleans the cowsheds of the local Brahmin's mansion, with whom she also has a secret liaison. When the boy’s elder brother comes on a vacation to the village, he soon finds out about his younger brother’s infatuation. The learned elder brother makes him realize the need to express his love and helps him write a love letter.

Cast

*Soham Maitra as Santu *

as Mona *

as Bajrangi *

as Dhaval *

Tannishtha Chatterjee Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress and director best known in the west for her performance in the British film ''Brick Lane'' (2007), the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same name Dhritiman Chatterjee Dhritiman Chatterjee is an Indian actor. He began his acting career in 1970 as the protagonist of Satyajit Ray's ''Pratidwandi'' (''The Adversary''). Most of his acting work has been in India's "parallel", or independent, cinema with filmmaker ...

as Lali Pandey, the blind priest *

Swatilekha Sengupta Swatilekha Sengupta (''née'' Chatterjee; 22 May 1950 – 16 June 2021) was a Bengali actress. She had received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her contribution to Indian theatre as an actor. Career Swatilekha started her career in theater ...

as Dhaval's mother *

Arpita Chatterjee Arpita Chatterjee ('' née'' Pal) is an Indian actress, who mostly appears in the Odia and Bengali film industry in India. She is married to actor Prosenjit Chatterjee. She made her film debut in 1999 with the film ''Tumi Ele Tai'', directed ...

as Nidhi *

Anshuman Jha Anshuman Jha is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films and theatre. He is known for his role in '' Love Sex Aur Dhokha''. He had been rated as one of the "Top Ten Bollywood Actors of 2010" by Rediff. He appeared in films such as '' Yeh Hai ...

as Raghu *Delzad Hiwale as Shambhu

Development

Bikas Mishra Bikas Ranjan Mishra is an Indian screenwriter and film director. His first feature film '' Chauranga'' released in January 2016. The film won awards at Mumbai Film Festival and Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA). His short film Danc ...

's script was selected by the National Film Development Corporation in 2010 for its Screenwriters' Lab organized at

. The script was later selected by

' ScriptStation program. Marten Rabarts, the artistic director of Amsterdam-based Binger FilmLab consulted Bikas on the script at both the labs.

Awards

*Grand Jury Prize for Best Film at 13th Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles 2015 (IFFLA) * Golden Gateway of India for Best Film (India Gold) at 16th Mumbai Film Festival 2014 * ''Chauranga'' won "Incredible India" Award for the best project of co-production market, at the NFDC Film Bazaar,

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

, Goa 2011 and Script Funding from

Goteborg International Film Festival Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the la ...

, Sweden.

References

External links

* * {{Official website, http://www.anticlockfilms.com/films/chauranga/ 2014 films 2010s Hindi-language films Films shot in India Films about the caste system in India Indian avant-garde and experimental films 2010s avant-garde and experimental films