Chaitra (film)

Chaitra English title: In the month of March
Directed by	Kranti Kanade
Produced by	Film and Television Institute of India
Written by	Kranti Kanade Story: G. A. Kulkarni
Starring	Sonali Kulkarni Lalan Sarang Dhiresh Joshi
Music by	Bhaskar Chandavarkar
Cinematography	Mahesh Mutthuswami
Editing by	Kranti Kanade
Running time	20 min.
Country	India
Language	Marathi with English subtitles

Chaitra is a short film by Kranti Kanade based on G.A. Kulkarni's story of the same name. Kranti selected this story for his thesis short film towards completion of his degree in Direction from FTII. The film went on to win five National Film Awards in 2002.

Production

The film was shot in Alandi village near Pune and the post-production done in FTII. Being a student film, Director did not have enough budget but Sonali Kukarni and Lalan Sarang agreed to do the film without remuneration. Music Director Late Bhaskar Chandavarkar not only composed music for the film without taking any remuneration but he also paid for the musicians himself. Cinematographer Mahesh Muthuswami contributed an amount towards the production and so did the Sound designer Subir Das.

Awards

Chaitra won five National Film Awards in 2002.^[1]
National Film Award for Best Short Fiction Film
National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction (Bhaskar Chandavarkar)
National Film Award - Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Non-Feature Film) (Sonali Kulkarni)
At the Mumbai International Film Festival 2002 it won National Critics’ Award and Best Short - Silver.

That year, it was India's official entry to the Student Academy Awards.
It was also included in a DVD titled 'Master Strokes'- a compilation of works of twenty renowned FTII students.

Press

1. A philosopher and a filmmaker^[2]
2. Cinematic Kranti! ^[3]
3. A new film-maker on the horizon^[4]
4. Chaitra included in 'Master Strokes'^[5]

Storyline

The story of a proud woman, her poetic vindication of unfair social insult, and her inevitable sad destiny. A very culture-specific film dipped in a local festival of rural women. ^[6]

References

1. ^ "Chaitra National Awards". http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2002/rjul2002/26072002/r2607200224d.html. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 
2. ^ Pravin Donthi (June 28, 2008). "A philosopher and a filmmaker". Hindustan Times. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=1554c5c1-65c2-4699-9caf-8ebd2601f7c7. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 
3. ^ Sumithra Thangavelu (June 6, 2008). "Cinematic Kranti!". The Hindu. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2008/06/06/stories/2008060650100400.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
4. ^ Vijay Vedala (July 6, 2008). "A new film-maker on the horizon". Outlookindia.com. http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=586279. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 
5. ^ Manjiri Damle (June 22, 2006). "Jaya Bachchan to unveil 'Master Strokes'". Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1669571,flstry-1.cms. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
6. ^ http://www.marathitube.com/2009/03/chaitra-short-film.html