Keekli Bureau, 27th November, Shimla
Siddharth Chauhan, an independent filmmaker from Shimla, has once again surprised everyone by taking his thought provoking; award winning short film to theatres which have screened the most acclaimed films from the world cinema. Impressed by the content and story telling of his film “Boys Don’t Wear Nailpolish!”, it was invited by the The Carolina Theatre Group, United States for a special screening in October, 2015. His film has been selected to be screened at the Paris Film Festival on 1st December, 2015. The Film stars Kamayani Bisht (Asst. Professor, Centre of Excellence, Govt. College Sanjauli) and Manan Thakur (Student, St. Edwards School, Shimla) and was made with the help of a local cast and crew.
Born in Renuka in 1990, Siddharth has never undergone any professional training in this field. He has studied Computer Applications in his college and did his masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. He began experimenting with films during his graduation and kept making short films. His film Boys Don’t Wear Nailpolish! first made news in February 2014 when it won the Best Film Award at the International Short Film Festival, Kerala.
Thereafter he made “The Infinite Space“, a fictional story of a Buddhist monk who dares to believe in the impossible, with local actors, crew and real life Buddhist monks. The film was selected by The University of Manchester, UK, for their film curation scheme in 2015 where the Selection Jury reviewed it as a film that “maintains the peace and serenity of Buddhism – there is a dramatic tension, but it doesn’t lose sight of the rhythms of the Buddhist day and nor does it veer into (Western) cinematic melodrama and sensationalism.” and called it a piece of “Excellent cinematic storytelling, Well Shot with some striking images“.
Siddharth has become the first independent filmmaker from Himachal Pradesh to have taken his locally produced films throughout the world. All his films have been based in Shimla and have taken our local culture, talent and scenic beauty to the world. With absolutely no professional training in this field, his films have been screened across countries like Sarajevo, England, USA, Belarus, Durham, Indonesia, New Zealand, Italy and now Paris; a monumental victory for an untrained 25 year old Shimla based filmmaker.
He is currently writing a few scripts and working on the release of his next film titled “PAPA”, starring Mohit Singh Parmar (actor, featuring in the Himachali film Nath Bhajj) from Palampur and Sushma Kaul (H.O.D., English Department, Bishop Cotton School, Shimla) in major roles. The film is based on the complicated relationship of a disabled mother and her only son adjusting to their lives after a terrible accident.
