‘Ka kahin e aunty, babhan ghare e kariya musri janmal biya…’ (What can I say aunty, this black mouse has been born in a Brahmin’s house). When a mother says these words to her newborn daughter, the sadness on her face is clearly visible. This scene is from the trailer of Bhojpuri film ‘Kariatthi’ which is ready to be released in a few days.
After this scene, it is shown in the trailer that because of the black color of her skin, the girl starts being called ‘Kariatthi’. A young master falls in love with a girl who has been taunted in her own home by her father and relatives about her skin colour. The marriage also takes place, but then there is a twist in the story and everyone is seen in sadness. What is the twist, you will know on January 31 when director Nitin Chandra’s film ‘Kariatthi’ will be released on the Government of India’s OTT platform Wave.
Nitin Chandra’s first film ‘Deswa’ was based on the problem of migration and was selected for the India International Film Festival (IFFI). Nitin highlighted the problem of employment for the youth in Bihar in his second film ‘Mithila Makhan’. His film made in Maithili received the National Award. His third film was ‘Jackson Halt’ (Maithili) which was highly appreciated. ‘Kariatthi’ is Nitin’s fourth film and this time he is telling the story in Bhojpuri.
It is difficult to make a ‘different’ film in Bhojpuri.
The trailer of ‘Kariatthi’ which talks about apartheid is making people emotional. Bhojpuri speaking public is discussing this film on social media. A big reason is that ‘Kariatthi’ is also a bold experiment in Bhojpuri cinema, which is known for its very superficial filmmaking and masala films.
The film looks good from the trailer and it has been directed by a director who has made a National Award winning film. In such a situation, should it not have been released in theatres? Answering this question, Nitin pointed towards the condition of theaters in Purvanchal, Bihar and Jharkhand.
He told, ‘There is no theatre. Except Patna, no district of Bihar has more than two cinema halls. Even in Jharkhand, except some big cities, there are no cinema halls. Similarly, except Gorakhpur, the situation is similar in other places in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, there are not many cinema halls, they are getting closed. First of all, Hindi dubbed films of South are being played in the theaters of Bihar, then Hindi dubbed films of Hollywood, after this, big Hindi films of Bollywood, including re-releases and then films of big and old producers of Bhojpuri. We are much later.
Nitin further said that he wants to create very good content in Bhojpuri. But many times this is not possible because investors are not available. Investment has to be raised by involving 5-6 people. The budget of his latest film ‘Kariatthi’ is only Rs 90 lakh. Nitin said, ‘Sometimes I have made a film by collecting money from 25 people’. Nitin thanked his sister, renowned Bollywood actress Neetu Chandra, who started her production house, Champaran Talkies, in 2010. ‘Kariatthi’ is also a film of this production house.
How did you get the story of ‘Kariatthi’?
Nitin told that he read the Bhojpuri story collection ‘Tetri’ written by Saroj Singh in 2018. The last story in this was ‘Kariatthi’, which remained in Nitin’s mind for a long time. He decided to turn it into a film and wrote its screenplay.
Talking about discrimination against people on the basis of colour, Nitin said, ‘I have seen it in my homes, in my localities, in schools and colleges. I am in the film line, mostly live in Mumbai. Casting people, directors and producers say things like ‘don’t take this one, it’s too dark or it’s too dark’. You look at the matrimonial pages, everyone wants a fair girl, a fair boy.
‘I see all this every day and this discrimination happens with boys too. If the boy is black then he is not getting married. People in the office call him ‘Kalua-Kalue’. When a joke happens again and again, it becomes abuse, it becomes a stereotype. Like the word ‘Bihari’ or ‘Bhaiya’ used in Mumbai for the people of Uttar Pradesh. When fifty people forget your name and start calling you ‘Oye Bihari’, it becomes a ‘cruel joke’. It slowly starts hurting you.
The challenge is to take the film to the people
When Nitin was asked what kind of response he expected from his audience for his film? So he said, ‘Let people see first. This is the first challenge. If there is a film in Bhojpuri then 99% people already treat it like ‘Hey man, there is a film in Bhojpuri…’
He further said, ‘Bhojpuri speaking people have ignored Bhojpuri the most. It’s not their fault either. Today, the people who are around 40 years of age have been in this mindset since childhood, now when they are getting sensitized and understanding, they are feeling nostalgic. They miss their things now. The subject matter of ‘Kariatthi’ is very sensitive. If this film reaches people, if they watch and understand it… it will touch them deeply. We have made the entire film from the heart, keeping the brain aside. Watch the trailer of ‘Kariatthi’ here:
Most of the cast and crew of the film are from Bihar.
‘Kariatthi’ stars Annu Priya, Deepak Singh, Sushma Sinha and Sanjay Singh in lead roles. The farewell song sung by famous singer Megha Dalton from the film is becoming very popular. Well-known voices like Chandan Tiwari and Richa Verma have given voice to the songs of ‘Kariatthi’. The music in the film is by Prabhakar Pandey and Aditya Ranjan.
The film’s director Nitin Chandra said that in all his films he has been working with cast and crew based in Bihar. ‘It is also our effort to do whatever work we do in Bihar only. The reason is also that my films provide employment to local actors. Efforts are made not to bring anyone from outside or from Mumbai because there is employment there. We want that our people from Purvanchal, Bihar or Jharkhand should get work.