Millionaire Dreams

Also dubbed ‘The Real Millionaire’,Khara Karodpati is a 20-minute Marathi short film directed by Piyush Thakur. It has been moving around national and international short-film circuits and picking up accolades for its storyline. “The story details the life of Vishnu,a poor farmer in a village. Through sheer luck,he gets a call for participation from the organisers of Kaun Banega Crorepati. It is about how his life,along with that of the villagers,changes as a result,” says Thakur. “Vishnu becomes an instant celebrity in the village and the expectations of the villagers raise his own hopes in the process.”

The film recently won the Best Student Short Fiction award by the Indian Documentary Producer’s Association (IDPA),and was the only entry selected from India for the prestigious 34th Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival held in France in January this year. The short film was completed in January last year. In addition,the film has won awards at the International Cultural Exchange (ICE) Film Festival 2011 – Pune,second prize for Best Student Short Film at Kuala Lumpur Short Film Festival 2012,Malaysia; and also the Best Film award at the Bhumika International Film Festival 2012,New Mumbai,and Frames International Film Festival,2012,New Mumbai. The film was also selected for the Bollywood and Beyond festival last year in Stuttgart,Germany,the Indian Film Festival of Houston 2011,USA,and the Nepal Cine Symposium 2011.

Thakur says that he originally wanted to direct a full-length feature film. “We wanted to work on a full length feature film script that was two-and-a-half hours long. Once that was ready,we cut it down to the length of a short film due to time constraints,” he says. His project was a part of a first-year exercise that is done at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII),where he is currently pursuing his degree in editing.

Shot on a Sony PD 170 digital camera,the shoot was completed in the village of Devdi on the outskirts of Pune in two days. He says that the film highlights Vishnu’s dejection when he is unable to make it to the hot seat and returns to his village. “He feels let down. The villagers however,led by the sarpanch,take it upon themselves to cheer him up and restore his lost confidence; thereby showcasing the bitter-sweet joys of life,” says Thakur.