Reel inspiration: Paywat makes it to Ravenna International Short Film Festival

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The film was shot over a period of three days in Jhendewadi village, near Diveghat, Saswad. Paywat has no dialogues, just sound effects. Sharing Paywat’s story, he said, it’s a story of a 10-year-old village girl, her experiences in life. “Her parents, who are labourers, leave for work in the morning, and the responsibilities of housework fall upon her — cleaning, sweeping, cooking, taking care of the bed-ridden grandmother, getting younger brother ready for school and so on. She does everything without complaining. After doing all the housework, she gets ready to go to school. She doesn’t have a proper bag, raincoat or a slipper. Her school is far and there are small hills to reach there. Yet, when she reaches school, she has a smile on her face. Somewhere, she knows that if she wants a better life, it can happen only through education,” said Chaudhari.

Chaudhari himself was born and brought up in a village called Patkul in Solapur. He and his sister had to travel over 10 km to school and back home. He recalls how his sister Jaya struggled to finish housework and then reached school. “Just like the protagonist of Paywat, there are millions of village girls who are burdened with housework, eventually studies becoming a secondary concern,” said Chaudhari.
Chaudhari’s previous projects include Compulsory Hell-Mate (2011) that won Best Short Film (Jury Award) at BRICS Film Festival, New Delhi and Ghandaat (2010) that won First Best Short Film Award at International Cultural Exchange. Other than a couple of documentaries, he also worked as the chief assistant director for films Fandry and Sairat.

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