Saankal

Saankal (transl. Shackle) is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language social problem film written and directed by Dedipya Joshii about a custom followed in a village in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan: Women are forced to marry boys to keep marriages within the community. The cast includes Chetan Sharma, Tanima Bhattacharya,[1] Harish Kumar, Jagat Singh, Samarth Shandilya and Milind Gunaji.[2]

Saankal
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDedipya Joshii
Produced byPisceann Pictures
Dedipya Joshii
Aanand Rathore
Screenplay byDedipya Joshii
StarringChetan Sharma
Tanima Bhattacharya
Harish Kumar
Jagat Singh
Samarth Shandilya
Milind Gunaji
Music bySongs: Shivang Upadhyay
Nishant Kamal Vyas
Background score: Shivang Upadhyay
CinematographyRaut Jaywant Murlidhar
Edited byJeetu Rall
Release date
  • August 2015 (2015-08) (Indie Gathering Film Fest)
  • November 2017 (2017-11) (Private Screenings)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Synopsis

The film depicts how tradition can bring a drastic change in normal life. In middle of the Thar Desert, there was a village surrounded by its own rituals, taboos and social obligations. Long before partition, some village councils passed ordinances after which a so-called base born community banished girls from getting married in other communities but the choice of marrying girls outside their community was still open for boys, the idea behind this law was to maintain purity in their blood. Any divergence from the law resulted in violence.[3]

After 1947, India-Pakistan partition, many of these villages from India went to Pakistan, even then crossing borders and arranging marriages continued for a few years but due to government interventions a day came when they had completely lost connections with their relatives across the border. Consequently, number of marriageable males went even lower for their girls. Now most of those lived rest of their life unmarried or were forced to marry old men. By the time village councils felt the disaster it was too late. Instead of uprooting the cause they passed another law in panic which was a solution in their view but they didn't foresee that this will make situation worse only.

Boys were still allowed to marry girls from other community but girls in their own community were aging. Worried by this, the leaders decided that, for the sake of keeping women within the clan, mature women were forced to marry male children. Their belief was that in this way daughters of their community won't go outside; but boys like Kesar (11 years) and women like Abeera (26 years) became victims of this malpractice. The ill effects of this tradition have been conveyed through this film.[4]

Cast
  • Chetan Sharma as Kesar (Teen)
  • Tanima Bhattacharya as Abeera
  • Harish Kumaar as Usmaniya
  • Jagat Singh as Kesar (Young)
  • Samarth Shandilya as Kesar (Kid)
  • Milind Gunaji as Apoorva Shingh Bhati

Awards and accolades
  • The indie gathering -Aug 2015, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Awards- Best Female Lead & Best Foreign film).[5]
  • Cape Town & Wieland International Film Fest- Sep.15, Cape town, SA
  • Ireland Indian film festival- Sep2015, Dublin.
  • Dehradun international film festival- Sep 2015, Dehradun.[6]
  • Los Angeles Cine Fest, Sep 2015, online
  • Toronto international Indian film festival, Oct 2015, Canada.[7]
  • Milan international film festival, November 2015, Italy
  • Russian International Film festival, October 2015, Online. (Awards- Best Film & Best Actress).[8]
  • Indie Film Festival, October 2015, Online.
  • London show International Film festival, October 2015, online.
  • Shaan E Awadh International Film Festival, Nov. 2015, Lucknow. (Awards- Best Film, Best Actress & Best Director)
  • Kolkata International Film festival, November 2015, Kolkata
  • Alexandria Film festival, November 2015, USA
  • Phoenix international film Festival, November 2015, Phoenix USA.
  • Delhi International Film Festival, Dec 2015, Delhi
  • Friendship film festival, Dec. 2015, Delhi
  • Broken Knuckle Film Festival, Dec 2015
  • Jaipur International film festival, Jan 2016, Jaipur
  • California Film Awards, Jan 2016, USA. (Awards- Gold Award-Foreign Film Competition)
  • Bengaluru International Film Festival, Jan-Feb 2016, Bengaluru,India.
  • Kalyan International Film Festival, Feb 2016, Kalyan,India (Awards - Best Story)
  • Nasik International Film Festival, Feb 2016, Nasik,India. (Awards - Best Noteworthy)
  • DFW South Asian Film Festival, Feb 2016, Dallas,USA.
  • Singapore World International Film Festival, March 2016, Singapore.
  • Habitat Film Festival, May 2016, New Delhi,India.
  • International Open Film Festival, June 2016, Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Awards - Best South Asian Film)
  • Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Aug 2016, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Hariyana International Film Festival, Sep 2016, Hisar,India. (Awards - Best Actress & Best Story)
  • Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, December 2016, Kolkata,India (Awards - Best women Film)

Reception

Shoma A Chatterji, reviewing Saankal for India Together, lauded the strong story and the "picturesque backdrop of Rajasthan"

One Film Fan, reviewing Saankal for India Independent Film Reviews, "Realistically sobering, based-on-true-events themes within a fictionalized package"

References
  1. "Film Saankal actress Tanima Bhattacharya | पहली फिल्म से विदेशों में धमाल मचा रही ये एक्ट्रेस, 11 साल के दूल्हे की बनी दुल्हन - Dainik Bhaskar". www.bhaskar.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  2. Chatterji, Shoma A (28 April 2016). "Saankal – strong content, weak movie". India Together.
  3. "Saankal Archives". Filmy Town. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  4. http://glamgold.com/saankal-wins-hearts-at-the-20th-indie-gathering-international-film-festival/
  5. "Tanima Bhattacharya bags the Best Actress Award at IGIFF - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  6. "SAANKAL / SHACKLE – Dehradun International Film Festival". Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  7. "'Saankal - (Shackle)' gets Toronto nod - Bollywood Movie News". IndiaGlitz.com. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  8. "Saankal wins Best Film Award at Russian International Film Festival". Welcome to Ytalkies.com. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
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