Crossroads: Every Street has its own Artist

In the claustrophobic, bustling locale of Bharat Nagar, Delhi, along the heavily traffic-congested C.V. Raman Marg, Balraj Neem runs his restaurant called Deep Sweet Corner. The otherwise mundane ambience of the sweet shop/restaurant often comes alive when this businessman holds the mic. Balraj’s passion for music is deeply rooted with his love for food, and he finds ways and means to turn his workplace into more than just an eatery. His love for Hindi film songs hails back from his own yesteryears, filled with the popular Hindi film music tunes of Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, R.D. Burman, etc. This music not only gave Balraj inspiration to sing, but also get by in his difficult times, giving meaning to his daily and otherwise monotonous life that oscillates between his family home and his family business.

Chauraha: Har Gali Mein Kalakaar (trans: Crossroads: Every Street has its own Artist) is one such unheard story that set out with a dream and a voice, but got lost somewhere in the midst of the chaos in our daily lives. This documentary traces the human spirit and the power of music that essentially keeps us going, through our local Jack-of-all-trades, Balraj.

  • Amlaan Bhattacharjee
    Director
  • Nikita Saxena
    Director
  • Revati Ahuja
    Director
  • Shambhav Pande
    Director
  • Soham Bhattacharyya
    Director
  • Balraj Neem
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Chauraha: Har Gali Mein Kalakaar
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Slice of life, Real life, Inspired, Musical
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 25, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    45 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Hindi, Urdu
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital – RAW, .mov, .mp4
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Amlaan Bhattacharjee, Nikita Saxena, Revati Ahuja, Shambhav Pande, Soham Bhattacharyya

Amlaan is an aspiring writer-filmmaker, an Army kid and a Liverpool fan at heart. He has wanted to be a storyteller as far back as he can remember and has been pursuing that dream ever since. He did his bachelors in B.A. (English) Hons. from Zakir Husain College, Delhi University after which he completed his Masters from AJKMCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia in Mass Communication.

Nikita believes that the future is female (we’ve all read the t-shirts) and would like to make something of herself that isn’t remembered as a “woman <something> (insert editor, writer, cinematographer, etc. here)”. She completed her Bachelors in English from LSR and her Masters in Mass Communication from AJK-MCRC, Jamia, and has recently relocated to Mumbai as part of the Hindi film and television industry.

Revati was born and brought up in Delhi but has recently moved to Mumbai to find her feet in the visual media industry. She is working with a leading independent films production house by the name of Sikhya Entertainment. She has done her graduation in Mass Communication from AJK MCRC, Jamia Milia Islamia. Prior to this, she did her graduation in Sociology from Lady Shri Ram college. She aspires to be a successful film producer in Mumbai.

With a passion for music and writing, Shambhav has done his Masters in Mass Communication from Jamia Mass Communication Research Centre. He is a story teller by heart and wants his stories to touch millions of lives around the globe. His home town is Allahabad, which is known for its legacy of arts and literature.

Soham was born in Pune, Maharashtra in 1992. He completed his schooling in the same city and thereafter graduated as a computer engineer from the Pune University in 2014. By virtue of being located close to the Pune Film Institute, his interest in cinema only grew as a result of learning from student productions at the FTII. After working in a software company for a year, Soham gave up his job to pursue his passion in filmmaking and moved to New Delhi. He completed post graduation in Mass Communication from AJK-MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia and is now currently based in Mumbai.

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