A feature film ‘Elham’, made by an alumnus of Allahabad University’s Department of English Dhruva Harsh, has been selected as the only children’s film from India to be showcased at the 24th Rainbow International Film Festival set to be held in London from May 28 to June 4.
Amongst hundreds of entries from countries like China, Pakistan, South Korea, Iran, Croatia, Armenia, Finland, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and India, just five feature films from the country have been officially selected for being screened at the festival including Harsh’s ‘Elham’ as the only children’s film.
The festival will also witness other films from the country including ‘Abhijan’ by Parambrata Chattopadhyay, ’Aprajito’ by Anik Dutta, ‘Gargi’ a Tamil film by Gautam Ramachandran featuring Sai Pallavi.
‘Elham’ received its place amongst some of the best films made this year in the Indian subcontinent and outside. Before London, ‘Elham’ has also premiered at the 21st Dhaka International Film Festival, Bangladesh held from January 14 to 22, 2023.
‘Elham’, meaning inspiration, is a children’s feature film, written and directed by Dhruva Harsh and jointly produced by Content Engineers and Jungle Boy Entertainment.
“This film is based on the symbiosis of a boy and goat that offers an insight into the annual Muslim festival celebrated across South Asia and its traditional sacrifice of a goat. In these circumstances, a Sufi mystic, and the boy Faizan’s friendship with a sacrificial goat, helps fortify the children’s faith thereby justifying the film’s title. The film has been beautifully captured by cinematographer Ankur Rai,” shared Dhruva, a filmmaker/ writer and creative head at Content Engineers.
{{/usCountry}}“This film is based on the symbiosis of a boy and goat that offers an insight into the annual Muslim festival celebrated across South Asia and its traditional sacrifice of a goat. In these circumstances, a Sufi mystic, and the boy Faizan’s friendship with a sacrificial goat, helps fortify the children’s faith thereby justifying the film’s title. The film has been beautifully captured by cinematographer Ankur Rai,” shared Dhruva, a filmmaker/ writer and creative head at Content Engineers.
{{/usCountry}}Interestingly, the role of young kid Faizan is played by Toyo Chan, while his sister Tot Chan plays Fatima in the film. Both these children are Buddhist and yet they have dutifully done justice to the characters who are devout Muslims. The role of Faizan’s father, Rafique, is played by Mahmood Hashmi while his wife, Safina, is played by Guneet Kaur. The story is set in a village in Uttar Pradesh, explained Dhruva, who has done his master’s followed by a PhD in English in 2017 from the University of Allahabad and trained under the theatre makers Prof Sachin Tewari and Pravin Shekhar.
Before ‘Elham’, Dhruva has made short documentaries including “Honourable Mention” (2015), “Harshit” (2018) besides “Do I Exist: A Riddle” (2019) and “The Last Sketch” (2022), a feature documentary based on hand-rickshaw pullers of Kolkata. His films have been screened at many film festivals in India and abroad and are now streaming on OTT.
In February 2023, Dhruva shot his second feature film as a writer and director titled “Parable” based on Plato’s allegory, which talks about the academic world and politics around it. The film is set in Prayagraj, Lucknow and Delhi and has been produced by Pooja Pathak, an alumna of Allahabad University and CEO at Antral Films. The film has been jointly produced by Raj Kishor Khaware, Utpaal Acharya, Saurabh Varma, Vickey Prasad, Vikas Yadav and Rati Tandon, he added.