Underplayed Gems

Kaya Taran (2004)

Kaya Taran poster
Directed by
Sashi Kumar
Genre
political film
Country
India
Runtime
1h 47m
Rating
10.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

The film follows characters caught in communal violence in India, during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots. It shows how ordinary people experience and respond to these crises.

sombercontemplativegroundedintimatedeliberatesensitivereflectivehumanizing

What happens

Kaya Taran (English title: Chrysalis) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Sashi Kumar with Angad Bedi, Seema Biswas, Neelambari Bhattacharya and Neeta Mohindra in the lead roles. The film, based on the Malayalam short story When Big Tree Falls by N. S. Madhavan, is set against the backdrop of 2002 Gujarat riots against Muslims and 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The film won the Aravindan Puraskaram, given to the best debut film-maker, for 2004, for its "deft handling of a theme of contemporary relevance through sensitive imageries, carefully orchestrated sound design and finely etched characters." Two prominent journalists who covered the '84 riots, Rahul Bedi and Joseph Maliakan, played themselves in the film. Well-known dancer and choreographer Chandralekha choreographed a dance-sequence in the film performed among others by the noted Bharatanatyam dancer Navtej Johar. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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