"We don't know if we are coming or going", this is what Kailash, the father in Batul Mukhtiar's Kaphal, says at a crucial point in the film. He will now think about what he will do in the future, he says later.
Kailash (Subrat Dutta) is not just talking about himself. He is talking of the dilemma of every pahadi who moves out to the city to make a living. In the process, he is forced to leave behind what he knew of life, to live an undignified life on someone else's terms.
Kaphal is a wild berry found in the hills. Batul Mukhtiar names her film Kaphal as she chooses to see hope in the situation, even as she recognizes what the problem is. Kaphal is what is unique about the hills, it is what the character in the film decide to retain, rather than get lost in the city.
Makkar (Harish Rana) and Kamru (Pawan Negi) are two young kids living in a village in Garhwal. Like the other kids in their village, they live with their mother, as their father has moved to the city to make a living. There is no work in the hills, everyone has to move out whether they like it or not. This means Makkar and Kamru don't even remember their father's face. When he turns up burdened by his problems, often taking it out on them, they wonder if he is an imposter and look for a solution in the village's magic lady- Pagli Dadi (Sunita Rajwar.
The film manages to touch on varied themes which make you feel you know the
people you are watching well. The accent of the kids, who are all local kids and not professional actors adds to this. A minor problem, though, is the difference in their accent, and the non-local actors who play their parents. Also, in some scenes the dialogue exchange between the kids sounded a bit self-conscious.
The film touches on the themes important in their lives- dilemmas of migration and employment, the blind faith in superstition. It also captures the breadth of the geography and terrain they inhabit, shot evocatively by Vivek Shah. It is a children's film so Kaphal's worldview is never morose, but the skill of its storytelling (written by Mukhtiar and Shah) is that it weaves an the awareness of the adult world into the same story. This is why it works both as a children's film and as one for adults. Both will see the same film differently. Funny, moving and sensitive, Kaphal is never overtly sentimental.
Produced by the Childrens Film Society India (CFSI), Kaphal has done the rounds of film festivals like International Children's Film Festival and the Mumbai Film Festival. Hopefully, more will get to see it soon, and mull on the problem Kailash faces. A problem which is not just his, but ours too.
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