Ridham Janve's movie more than just a 'rare language film'

Director Ridham Janve says his film "The Gold-Laden Sheep & the Sacred Mountains" in Pahari language, is more than just a rare language film.

What made him choose a rare language like Pahari instead of Hindi for his film?

The director told IANS here: "My film is more than just a rare language film. It is an ethnographic film where the essence of the story needs to be kept intact while making it. That is one of the reasons why as a filmmaker I did not cast any actors, but local people."

"Reaching out to a wider audience did not cross my mind when I was in the process of making the film."

Set in the Himalayan mountain, the story of the film is about an old Gaddi shepherd who sets out to find a pilot who crashed near the mountain. The film recently won the Prasad Digital Intermediate Award at the 10th NFDC Film Bazaar here.

"It is not a film with lots of postcard images of the Himalayas that we often see in travel shows. I attempted to portray the nature in its real form - cruel and gentle at the same time. If you surrender all your energy to nature, your imagination can come alive," said Janve.

A film graduate from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Janve's short documentaries have been screened at various international film festivals.

His last non-feature film "Kanche Aur Postcard" was an official selection at the 44th International Film Festival of India, Indian Panaroma section. It also represented India at the SAARC Film Festival 2015 in Colombo.

So, what made him shoot "The Gold-Laden Sheep & the Sacred Mountains" independently?

He said: "Even independent films are dependent on so many things. When a film is in production, it is like soft clay where the shape of the film depends on the pressure it goes through. Sometimes, it comes from the producers. My intention of making the film independently was to keep such things away."

--IANS

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