Private Project

Kalichaat

In the Malwa-Nimar region of Western Madhya Pradesh (An Indian State), ‘Kalichaat’ is the name for a kind of exceptionally hard rock. Encountering it while digging for water is considered no less than a disaster in this ofteh drought-affected region. At the same time, it also presents a ray of hope because it is believed that beneath ‘Kalichaat’ lies boundless water, if it can be broken to reach it.

  • Sudhanshu Sharma
    Director
  • Sunil Chaturvedi
    Writer
  • Sudhanshu Sharma
    Producer
  • Prakash Deshmukh
    Key Cast
  • Geetika Shyam
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 10 minutes 16 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 30, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    23,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Hindi
  • Shooting Format:
    HDV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Haryana International Film Festival
    Hisar
    India
    September 11, 2016
    Best Director
  • Free Spirit Film Festival
    Mc Leod Gunj
    India
    October 31, 2016
    Best Picture
  • Free Spirit Film Festival
    Mc Leod Gunj
    India
    October 31, 2016
    Best Director
  • Free Spirit FIlm Festival
    Mc Leod Gunj
    India
    October 31, 2016
    Best Screenplay
  • Free Spirit Film Festival
    Mc Leod Gunj
    India
    October 31, 2016
    Audience Award for Best Film
  • Khajuraho International Film Festival
    Khajuraho
    India
    December 13, 2016
  • Delhi International Film Festival
    New Delhi
    India
    December 6, 2016
  • Shaan-e-Awadh International Film Festival
    Lucknow
    India
    November 13, 2016
  • Jhelum Short & Long Film Festival
    Bangaluru
    India
    November 5, 2016
  • Indigo Moon Film Fest
    Fayetteville
    United States
    August 10, 2016
  • Chatrapati Shivaji International FIlm Festival
    Pune
    India
    December 25, 2016
    Best Film
  • Chatrapati Shivaji International FIlm Festival
    Pune
    India
    December 25, 2016
    Best Screenplay
  • Kalyan International Film Festival
    Kalyan
    India
    December 28, 2016
    Best Rural Film
  • Kalyan International Film Festival
    Kalyan
    India
    December 28, 2016
    Best Screenplay
  • Navi Mumbai International Film Festival
    Jabalpur
    India
    January 28, 2017
    Best Film
  • Bengaluru International Film Festival
    Bangalore
    India
    February 5, 2017
  • NC South Asian Film Festival
    Louisburg, NC
    United States
    January 28, 2017
  • Rishikesh Art and Film Festival
    Rishikesh
    India
    March 11, 2017
  • Pune Independent Film Festival
    Pune
    India
    October 31, 2016
  • Kolkata International Wildlife & Environment Film Festival
    Kolkata
    India
  • Kashmir International Film Festival
    Bangaluru
    India
    January 4, 2017
  • International FIlm Festival of Prayag
    New Delhi
    India
    February 25, 2017
    Best Actor (Male)
  • International FIlm Festival of Prayag
    New Delhi
    India
    February 25, 2017
    Best Feature Film
  • Bollywood International Film Festival
    Columbia
    United States
    April 8, 2017
    Best Film
  • GardenCity International FIlm Festival
    Bangaluru
    India
    April 5, 2017
  • 7th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival
    New Delhi
    India
    April 30, 2017
  • Carmarthen Bay Film Festival
    Lianelli, Whales
    United Kingdom
  • IndustryBoost competition
    Miami, Florida
    United States
  • The Indie Gathering International Film Festival
    Cleveland
    United States
    August 10, 2017
    3rd position in Foreign Drama Feature
  • The New York Indie Film Festival (NYIFF)
    New York
    United States
    August 20, 2017
    Best Film
  • Chatrapati Shivaji International FIlm Festival
    Pune
    India
    December 25, 2016
    Best Actor (Male)
  • Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    United States
    November 3, 2017
  • Nevada International Film Festival
    Las Vegas
    United States
    Best Foreign Film
  • Paris International Cinefest
    Paris
    France
  • Grand IndieWise Convention
    Miami, Florida
    United States
  • CMS Vatavaran
    New Delhi
    India
    November 1, 2017
  • Roundglass Samsara Festival
    Bangalore
    India
    October 4, 2017
    Semi-Finalist
  • Ekurhuleni International Film Festival
    Gauteng
    South Africa
    Semi-Finalist
  • Lakecity Film Festival
    Lagos
    Nigeria
    Semi-Finalist
  • WINE COUNTRY FILM FESTIVAL
    Glen Allen
    United States
    Sem-Finalist
  • Los Angeles CineFest
    Los Angeles
    Semi-Finalist
Director Biography - Sudhanshu Sharma

An entrepreneur with a creative streak, Sudhanshu Sharma closely observed life at rural India while growing up. Different small towns and villages of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh inspired his journey with their rich culture and traditional values. He is a post graduate in Humanities and a pursuant research scholar in Philosophy.

A poet, writer and philosopher, Sudhanshu's work remained mostly for personal audience 'til now, partly due to his choice of keeping it that way and partly due to professional commitments. Nevertheless, his work as a poet and writer earned him rich accolades in various formal and informal literary circles of Madhya Pradesh. A formal collection of his short stories and poems is in print for unveiling in very near future.

Sudhanshu's professional responsibilities as an entrepreneur demanded him to conceptualize, write, produce, and provide creative guidance for close to 150 commercial productions, mostly for Indian television.

'Kalichaat' is his directorial debut for a feature length, depicting the life and journey of a poor farmer from Malwa-Nimar region of western Madhya Pradesh, the area which he closely relates to. Besides being Director of the creation, he also was an integral part of scripting, screenplay, and art direction team of 'Kalichaat.'

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Director Statement

"The subject, water depletion and struggles associated with it especially with regards to smaller farmers, can be a subject of alien proportions to a developed nation, but in India it is an omnipresent reality. Where some government statistics suggesting almost 90% of cultivated land belonging to small to very small farmers by the size of their piece of land. The whole nation prays for monsoon to be good as that is what governs the irrigation in India unlike any other developed nation, as the irrigation infrastructure, though getting better, is still in a primitive stage. So ironically, the God decides whether the year for a farmer and in turn of this nation is going to be good or not, not the efforts of a farmer! On top, the complex governmental procedures for largely illiterate farmer community coupled with corruption at grassroot levels and no proper mechanism to educate farmers on these matters make conditions even worse.

Making of Kalichaat was more out of an urge to get this common issue addressed more emphatically than for any professional gain, more like doing my bit in my capacity for farmers of my land."