Place: Lakhisarai, Bihar, India

The Film: Soch Sauchalay

Lakhisarai is a place which has two lifestyles i.e. rural and urban. It is a religious centre for Hindus so you’ll come across many temples and they are beautifully made. I had gone at the time of Chhath puja so I was very lucky to see this festival and its culture. This festival means a lot to the people of Bihar. Naxalites are a threat to this place. My assumption that people in Bihar are aggressive and that I might have to work hard to get the children trained was proved wrong. The people are laidback and do things at their own pace and in their own style. One just needs to be relaxed and patient when in Lakhisarai.

Soch Sauchalay is a short drama film. Its purpose is to aware people about lack of toilets and what one has to face in society. Here’s the summary, A boy going to school and finds his mom defecating in the open, and later what a child has to face in the society. 

Lakhisarai experience was a challenge for me. I had children from nine schools. These children treated each other as a competition, so my first workshop was getting them together and work as a team. Once these kids became friends it became way easier for me to teach them. These kids were familiar to film Industry. They had a gist about film making. This time my production was bigger than the previous one. But I learned from my mistakes and made sure that I give them their respected roles and this maintained discipline while shooting. And kids did a great job, they took their role seriously and made sure that there is no interference.

Every time life teaches you something and in Lakhisarai I learned to handle production. It was not an easy job for me but trust me I had fun. By the end of this workshop I was ready to handle further production and with confident. Well I had large team including domestic animals so I became expert in dividing the work too. We have to be proud of our kids, I can see a bright India and great filmmakers, I am thankful to this program where I got a chance to keep my selfish attitude aside and gave back to society and I propose youth to take such initiate once in a lifetime.