The latest creation from Siddharth Chauhan’s directorial venture is The Passport, an intense drama about a couple’s separation in India through a mutual consent divorce (MCD) and its devastating effect on the mental health of their children. Adil Hussain and Suchitra Pillai will play the significant characters in the film—the couple who decide to separate in their ‘50s. The film is all set to go on the floors this winter and will also launch two new actors – Jatin Ahuja, from Madhya Pradesh and Pragya Jain from New Delhi, while a number of local actors will feature from the home State. Something Siddharth is quite passionate about.
Talking about the film, he further shares that, “I wanted to show how damaging a separation can be for children-irrespective of their age and raise an important point, you can divorce your wife but not your children.”
He added, “I have received so many offers from producers persuading me to shoot my film in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand because of the subsidy and film policy there, but I would rather make films in Himachal and tell stories of the locals, by the locals and for the locals.” For the same, I am currently looking for locations for my film to be shot in Shimla this winter and I often lament on not receiving enough support from the Government of Himachal for my initiatives – despite my contribution towards generating local employment opportunities and promoting local language, art and culture at a global stage.
“There is a huge difference between an ‘outsider’ making a film in Himachal and a ‘Himachali’ making a film in Himachal. I hope the Government will extend its support to filmmakers by making the ‘Film Policy’ more functional and offering subsidies to filmmakers based in Himachal striving to make films here. If we don’t receive support from the State, we will have no choice but to move to other States and will naturally end up promoting their tourism and culture. I sincerely feel that the real loss would not be that, but the inability of the State to retain its ambitious youth and talent who wants to give back to the state,” he states.
Ending on an optimistic note, Siddharth adds, “I am in talks with few State Departments and hope that my vision for the State and to promote its culture and art is met with a favourable approach and I receive the much-needed support, both organisational and financial.”
