Daily Times

‘The School Bag’, a 15-minute short fiction film directed by Dheeraj Jindal and produced by Large Short Films, has become one amongst the very few who has won awards and accolades across the globe. The film stars Rasika Dugal and Sartaaj RK. Rasika will be seen next as the leading lady in ‘Manto’, directed by Nandita Das which also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

The film was screened on June 13 at The View, Andheri. Apart from the leading lady Rasika Dugal and child protagonist Sartaaj RK, Tisca Chopra, Kabir Bedi, Gulshan Devaiah, Jyoti Kapur Das, Gautam Rode, Mallika Dua, Raghav Chanana and Parul Gulati attended the screening.

‘The School Bag’ is a short film based in Peshawar, Pakistan which tells a story about the relationship between a mother and son. It’s a beautiful narrative about how a seven-year-old boy wants a new school bag on his birthday, and how the event unfurls to the young boy’s mother.

Talking about the journey while making the film, Dheeraj Jindal says – “It wasn’t easy to make a film which is based in Pakistan when you have to shoot in India. Working on a shoestring budget is always a challenge. But the kind of environment and location we were looking for was not available around. After two months of location recce, we found a village in Bulandsheher where years back migrants from Peshawar had shifted. From the production design to the music, we have tried to achieve the local flavour of Pakistan.”

‘The School Bag’ has screened worldwide including USA, England, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Romania, India, Spain, Bermuda, Italy, Bangladesh, Colombia, Germany, Iran, Pakistan, Puerto Rico and Turkey. The film has won 22 awards in total as of now across the globe. Out of which eight awards in best film category, Rasika won four awards in the category of Best Actor. Sartaaj RK won two awards for the best child actor and the film also grabbed many other technical awards in different categories.

The film is about the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. The film beautifully highlights what a mother goes through in her day-to-day life while bringing up her child and giving in to their innocent wishes. The film portrays the effect of terrorism on a nation as a whole be it India or Pakistan and how the damage is always done on both sides and the feeling of loss is universal.