A day in Choton's life

Have a look at this short film. I shot it during May, 2013.

My two minutes at Traffic Signal

 There are two ways which stretches out, leading to my office, almost an equal distance, but one road has a traffic signal.  Everyday on my way to office, I take the road with the traffic signal because it gives me my precious few minutes in these humdrum of city life. There are days when the signal is green and I zoom past that point (without any regret when I am awfully late)  but on most days, it is red and I get to perk my bike, sit and breath a bit and look around the life at the traffic signal for a couple of minutes.

A child selling Indian flags on a traffic signal.

Of course, there is a film by Madhur Bhandarkar named 'Traffic Signal' released in 2007, which dealt with the lives of the people who live and earn their livelihood staying around similar signals but that depiction was more inclined towards the underworld and the underbelly of Mumbai slum. 


In contrast, when I stop around this signal and see the lives around me, I see stories all painted with so many emotions and feelings. I see struggle, pain, hopelessness and also human endurance and the zeal to strife for a better tomorrow.

Sometimes there are kids trying to sell pens, pencils and balloons, sometimes there are women trying to cook something in their makeshift kitchen-cum-bed room, because this was nothing more than a piece of cloth tied to the grills of the wall which made their roof near the Indira Gandhi National center for Arts at the Rajendra Prasad Marg in New Delhi, the capital of India. Sometimes, there are some old men, sitting hunched forward in a circle, talking about somethings which I probably would never know. 


Sometimes I have this urge to skip my office and sit with them, spend an evening with them, listening to their stories, stories of struggle, loss, defeat, pain and hopefully hope. I mean there ought to be some hope or else how can they spend their days, day in and day out, on these streets. Sometimes, I wonder, probably they would have a lot of anger for the better off or the have-nots, who perk their cars and bikes (like me) for that two minutes, often not even bothering to give them a look, as if they don't even exist. I too probably do it everyday, sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional but always without any malice or perhaps that the way I would like to justify my actions.

Even though I think so much about their lives, I never stop by, never get down from my bike, never talk to them, never offer any help, never try to make any attempt to bring any chance. Perhaps, I think I am not capable enough. But then they say change may start from anywhere, from anyone. Then why not? I don'y know. Something binds me inside, stops me, tells me if I can't make a change by talking to them should not give them any false hope or perhaps they might interpret my action as an attempt to take some sadistic pleasure knowing their lives lived in squalor and penury.


I am still looking for answers to these questions, probably I will not get them because for that I would have to take that one step someday. Knowing everything, still the hunt for the answers continue and continues my two minutes of solace at the traffic signal amidst the humdrum of the city.

Chiller Party is a story of courage, hope and friendship

     Bollywood has never been known to produce films for children. It was only after 'Tere Zameen par' that this genre of movies was taken seriously by the filmmakers and although even today there are very few movies being made for kids, films such as 'Stanley ka Dabba', Makdee, 'Blue Umbrella' and now 'Chiller party' gives a lot of hope to this genre of movies.
     Chiller Party is an honest film made with a lot of heart by directors Nitesh Tiwari and Vikas Bahl. The film, co-produced by Salman Khan Being Human Productions (SKBH) and UTV's Spotboy, is a story of courage, hope and friendship that transcends all borders.
     The film, mostly shot inside a colony in suburban Mumbai, is about a group of young boys living in the colony, their camaraderie and their friendship with a boy, who comes to the colony to work as a car washer, and there fight to keep his dog 'Bidhu' from being taken away by the dog catchers.
     The film doesn't have any big name and it doesn't need one. Though there are a number of character actors but the main USP of the film are the kids, who made this film worthy of more than just a watch.
     The film gathers steam right from the start as the different kids are introduced to the audience one by one and simply sails through as the kids goes about their job and leaves no stones unturned to save their friend Bidhu. They take the help of the media, conducts 'chaddi' rallies -- all without the help of their parents. There are moments were it becomes a tad slow but it keeps its feet on the ground althrough.
     It is a heart warming film which also passes on enough messages to the adults without sounding preachy. Overall a good watch!!!!