For Neelkant Mama (82) and Vajir (51), two generations of Nomadic shepherds in South India, their world revolves around walking their sheep. The kurba-s of Karnataka have been walking the deccani sheep since the beginning of time hundreds of kilometres from home– “when a divine voice in the sky instructed their ancestor to protect and walk the sheep” – so narrates their itihāsa.
This timeless interconnected world is now getting ravaged. Grasslands and water bodies are getting barricaded as highways cut off their walking paths. Altered relationships with farmers are rupturing economic and ecological balances while promises of stationed jobs attrition away young shepherds.
Determined to be not the last in their line, Mama and Vajir are on a passionate quest, to tell the world why the sheep must walk. But who is listening? Their own family is sold to urban aspirations.
Amidst the hard indifference and apathy of the changing contemporary world, Mama takes Vajir to a living site of faith, where the sheep is considered divine and the shepherd is revered. The sheep is our dharma”, says Vajir. This film acts as a provocateur and asks us, “What is life without dharma (purpose)?
Bheḍ Chāl (Herd Walk) brings a story from one of world’s oldest landscapes, a story of light from India’s rural.
- Year2023
- Runtime01:03:00
- LanguageKannada, Marathi, Hindi with English Subtitles
- CountryIndia
- PremiereIndia Premiere
- Social Media
- DirectorAnkit Pogula
- ScreenwriterHarsh Satya
- ProducerTuning Fork Films
- FilmmakerAnkit Pogula
- CastNeelkanth Mama, Vajir Demmanaver
- CinematographerAnshul Uniyal
- EditorAmit Mahanty
- Sound DesignAsheesh Pandya
- MusicVinod Sreedhar
For Neelkant Mama (82) and Vajir (51), two generations of Nomadic shepherds in South India, their world revolves around walking their sheep. The kurba-s of Karnataka have been walking the deccani sheep since the beginning of time hundreds of kilometres from home– “when a divine voice in the sky instructed their ancestor to protect and walk the sheep” – so narrates their itihāsa.
This timeless interconnected world is now getting ravaged. Grasslands and water bodies are getting barricaded as highways cut off their walking paths. Altered relationships with farmers are rupturing economic and ecological balances while promises of stationed jobs attrition away young shepherds.
Determined to be not the last in their line, Mama and Vajir are on a passionate quest, to tell the world why the sheep must walk. But who is listening? Their own family is sold to urban aspirations.
Amidst the hard indifference and apathy of the changing contemporary world, Mama takes Vajir to a living site of faith, where the sheep is considered divine and the shepherd is revered. The sheep is our dharma”, says Vajir. This film acts as a provocateur and asks us, “What is life without dharma (purpose)?
Bheḍ Chāl (Herd Walk) brings a story from one of world’s oldest landscapes, a story of light from India’s rural.
- Year2023
- Runtime01:03:00
- LanguageKannada, Marathi, Hindi with English Subtitles
- CountryIndia
- PremiereIndia Premiere
- Social Media
- DirectorAnkit Pogula
- ScreenwriterHarsh Satya
- ProducerTuning Fork Films
- FilmmakerAnkit Pogula
- CastNeelkanth Mama, Vajir Demmanaver
- CinematographerAnshul Uniyal
- EditorAmit Mahanty
- Sound DesignAsheesh Pandya
- MusicVinod Sreedhar