A tale from the hills

Mona

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 16

Ironically, work took filmmaker Ajay Saklani away from the hill state he was born and brought up in. And now, he celebrates the life, nature and culture of his state in his first Himachali feature film Saanjh. 

Saanjh explores migration for a theme and has a young girl and her grandmother at the heart of the story, both of them tucked away in a village where the lure of work has taken most locals away from their roots. 

Difficult journey

It took Ajay, director, producer, screenplay writer and cinematographer, nearly two years to put together this ambitious project. “It wasn’t an easy journey,” admits Ajay, in Chandigarh, recently. Two days before the shoot, the girl finalised to play the lead backed out and in a hurried audition, Aditi Charak, a student from Chamba, came on board. She is paired opposite Vishal Parpagga. While this lead pair debuts with Saanjh, Asif Basra and Taranjit Kaur have been well-known faces of Bollywood and they play a significant part in the film. 

Himachal love

While Mohit’s connection with the state helped Ajay bring him bring on board, he shares how Asif became part of the project. “Asif loves to spend time in Himachal and the only condition he had before signing the film was that the shoot must take place in Himachal. Shot in picturesque Kullu, the story revolves around 16- year-old Saanjh, victim of a social media hoax, who is sent to her native place by her father.

Award time

Meanwhile, the film was honoured with the Best Feature Film award at the Borrego Springs Film Festival in California, USA. Also, Saanjh was declared the best film from 750 entries from all over the world in this festival. Earlier, Saanjh got the award of merit in Accolade Global Film Competition in California.