Name of the film THE BRITTLE THREAD
Original Name Jhini Bini Chadariya
Directed by Ritesh Sharma
Duration 97 mins, 4 sec
Year 2021
CountryIndia
Language Hindi, English, Bhojpuri, Hebrew (English Subtitles)
PRINCIPAL CREW
Producer(s) Visvesh Singh Sehrawat
Cinematography Priyashanker Ghosh
Editing Bhisma Pratim
Sound Piyush Shah
Music Anjo John
Story & Screenplay Ritesh Sharma
About the film
Headstrong, feisty street dancer Rani works hard to take care of her daughter while reclusive weaver Shahdab discovers a new world in his friendship with an Israeli tourist. Exploring the love and hate dimensions in the ancient city of Varanasi, their cultural and political identities come to the fore. Will the luminous fabric of our diversity soon turn into an iron curtain, dividing those who seem to belong & those who don’t?
Filmmaker's Statement
Having grown up in Varanasi, I’ve come to realize that there is much more to this city than holy pilgrimages; this dense cultural hub accurately reflects the state of the two major communities of India. Jhini Bini Chadariya by Kabir helped me look for my own answers and construct the fabric of this film. It became a powerful metaphor of how people are interconnected and how life is always in the process of weaving itself. When I was brought to the Hindu temple to pray, I would rather go to the mosque across the street to enjoy the colourful fish in the pond. God for me was in both places. While the heart of Varanasi is currently being demolished along with old temples and mosques, local communities stand on the edge of a schism. My intention was to put them in the spotlight, and bring out the multicultural face of Varanasi that the city should actually take pride in. This is a story about the battles of earning an honest living, that unite common people everywhere.
About the director
Ritesh Sharma is a filmmaker who spent 13 years in theatre education and social activism. He was awarded the ‘Changeloom Award’ in 2008, an honour for his active participation in various social issues such as human trafficking, women's and children's rights. His first documentary film "The Holy Wives" about caste-based sexual exploitation and human trafficking in India has been screened in Australia, the UK, the USA, Europe and India. The film also won the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival Award in 2011. He has released 2 short films on tribal rights and domestic violence.
