IFFI 2024, 19: Quote hanger—Prasoon Joshi, Harsh Sangani and Kabir Naik

Ladakhi-language Short Film, Ghar Jaisa Kuch, directed by an independent director, Harsh Sangani. Opened the short film package at IFFI 2024, IFFI NO. 55, November 2024.

The film explores the perpetual conflict between a person’s will to adhere to his inherited traditions and pursuing his future aspirations. The film has depicted this struggle in a unique way, where the spirits of the protagonist’s parents play a pivotal role in shaping the narrative. The plot has captured the language, traditions and essence of the community from Ladakh in a visually and emotionally appealing way for its viewers.

Director Harsh Sangani, “I always had the story within me, but it never materialised into reality until now. I resonated with the main character’s struggles of trying to find a home that once existed; as I also have experienced similar situations in my own life. We wanted to make the audience feel the yearning for a place that once held comfort and warmth for them, that’s why we felt that the name Ghar Jaisa Kuch – Something like Home, will suit the film.”

Kabir Naik, Director of Photography of the film, confessed, “As a cinematographer, shooting in such places like Ladakh was a dream. However, it also gets quite overwhelming as one always has to try extra hard to make the characters stand out in such a scenic place.”

Prasoon Joshi, at a Master Class, Writing for Film and Beyond: “A lot of our story ideas die prematurely as practical and creative restrictions make us lose faith in our ideas. That way India is the place where story ‘Infanticide’ in the sidelines of IFFI 2024 today in Goa. Practicing one’s craft continuously has no substitute, as one cannot start the practice only when opportunity knocks at our doors. The true content is not restricted by language and that way we can say that best poetry happens in silence and Silence is the eternal sound that connects us. Silence is the ultimate language. We have to demystify the film making process. Films can have intrigue but not the film making process. When you narrate something deeply personal it becomes universal” Prasoon Joshi added, commenting upon the songs he wrote for the film Taare Zameen Par.

“My mother used to comment upon my usage of difficult words in poetry which shaped my writing process enabling me to write the content which would resonate with the readers and will not gratify just me.

“I don’t take Artificial Intelligence lightly. It was supposed to hit creative fields the last, however it has affected the creative fields the first. We have to remember that whatever centers on mathematics can be mastered by Artificial Intelligence, however, if one's poem or story has emerged from some ultimate truth, then AI cannot produce that.  With AI getting dominant it is the creator who is getting affected and not the creation, added Joshi, who is also the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification.

“We have to see that storytelling does not remain centralised to A few cities alone and the Creative Minds of Tomorrow (CMOT) initiative tries to decentralise this process by enabling storytellers from mofussil areas to emerge, added Shri Joshi. We cannot effectively tell the stories from small cities and towns, unless film-makers emerge from those places. If you want true stories from India to come out, you have to make film-making accessible to people in the farthest corners of the country,” he concluded.