Zero budget film from Kolhapur goes to Cannes

KOLHAPUR: Umesh Bagade made ‘Chaukat’ with zero budget but the 11-minute film has made it big. It has reached all the way to the coveted

Festival de Cannes in France.

The filmmaker said they received confirmation from the

Cannes authorities

about the selection of the film earlier this week. “It has been selected in the

‘short film corner

’ of the festival to be held in May. ‘Chaukat (Frame)’ has won many national and international laurels and was screened in the

International Film Festival

of India last year,” he said.

“This 11-minute film was made on zero budget. Whatever expenses we have made are for a few technical things. It would come to less than Rs 10,000,” he said.

Shot in the early 2016 on the outskirts of the city, the message of ‘Chaukat’ is simple — “if people can see God in stone idols, they should also search for God in every human being and respect him or her”, Bagade said.

“The selection of this film is a perfect tribute to our entire team and also for actor

Vijay Pawar

, who died of cardiac arrest in January,” he said.

“Pawar sir did not charge a penny from us and came up with a stellar performance. It saw many awards and nominations in national festivals,” Bagade said.

Saurabh Prabhudesai

, editor of the film, said all aspects of the film, including acting, production, direction, editing, screenplay and camera, have been done by artists from Kolhapur. “We need to nurture talents in Kolhapur. We hope this success gives inspiration to all budding filmmakers in the city,” he said.

“The short film corner at Festival de Cannes will be a great platform for us. We can showcase our stories to the production houses visiting the festival and look for financial prospects for future projects,” Prabhudesai said.

‘Chaukat’ was screened at festivals such as River to River Florence Indian Film Festival. It has so far won 24 awards, including the Best Film award at Chennai International Film Festival, Pocket film festival and Pukar film festival, in India and abroad.

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