Private Project

Dandakaranya (Forest of Punishment)

Dandakaranya is an attempt towards a short folk thriller, rooted in the reality of the conflict, to maintain the sustainable ways of life of native tribal population trying to protect their land, belief systems and culture. Set against the backdrop of a protest near deposit number 13, a mountain rich in iron ore and sacred to the tribal natives of Bailadila, Chhattisgarh. Starting with a short documentary section of the protest that sets the context, giving a socio-political background of the region and the people, the story moves on to follow a day in the life of a young tribal, Linga who lost his father during Salwa Judum times. Torn between his duty to the protest and his family, Linga embarks on a fateful journey to find the lost sacrificial goat, for the rituals to satisfy the Earth Gods planned for the night. Along the way, he encounters Sudha, a woman seeking justice for his father's death albeit for her own selfish ambitions. As the night unfolds, Linga's mother's tragic fate is revealed, igniting a dangerous pursuit for vengeance. The film explores the darkness that lurks beneath the surface of an ancient community and the consequences of sacrilege in different forms, evolving interpretations of cultures - trying to predict a future for an educated tribal trying to carve out his own life, recovering from the trauma of seeing his own father being murdered by the guardians of a developing nation.

  • Souvik Roy Chowdhury
    Director
  • Souvik Roy Chowdhury
    Writer
  • Avik Roy Chowdhury
    Producer
  • National Institute of Design Ahmedabad
    Producer
  • Pramod Tiwari
    Key Cast
  • Snigdha Choubey
    Key Cast
  • Suman Sharma
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, Thriller
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 30, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Hindi
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Director Biography - Souvik Roy Chowdhury

Born into a close knit middle class family, Souvik got fascinated getting introduced to different cultures and emotions through films across the world, which he started exploring with his elder brother during schooldays. Initially working as an engineer, he would travel around making short documentaries, occasionally dabbling with fiction shorts before joining NID. Forever curious about anthropological elements, he wants to explore different cultures, understand the value of preserving the diversity of life. A macro level study has culminated into a final year project where an attempt has been made to fictionalize the cultural clash between the industrialisation of a developing nation and the belief systems and sustainable ways of life of its native
inhabitants. Moving on from the learnings from his time at NID, he wants to focus on the micro level, to understand human psychology at the core of motives towards collective actions as a civilization.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

In 2019, I was greatly moved by the book The Burning Forest by Nandini Sundar and wanted to travel to Bastar to interact with the local tribal population and understand how they are recovering from the difficult times of Salwa Judum. When we reached Kanker, a town in Bastar, South Chattisgarh - we were informed of a protest at the iron ore mining campus of NMDC in Bailadila. When understood the huge gap in culture between the native tribals and the priorities of a developing nation.

I wanted to make a short film about a character who had grown up experiencing the Salwa Judum as a child who did not understand right from wrong, but imagined what might happen with him if he is given a city bred education and opportunities to choose a life to compete with the citizens of the country at large. In the midst of an ever-conflicting political turmoil that this region has always been a part of, a hopeful future can sometimes be carved out sometimes sacrificing a few things for the time being. The ritual sacrifice serves to be symbolic for the future, a sacrifice which is celebrated by the lot but unfortunate for a selected few, imagined to be essential for the greater good. We do not know how to achieve a balance between the evolving cultures of the varied inhabitants of the country, but this is an attempt to fictionalize the traditional cultural elements, in the background of a documentary context, to weave an engaging story in the form of a thriller - made in the hope of bringing the discussion to the mainstream, respecting the difficulty of reaching a solution in such sensitive issues.