Avinash comes from a well-to-do household in a small town, whereas Bhushan lives with his single mother in a shed on its outskirts. Avinash’s skin tone is lighter, too. These class demarcations are evident, yet the two boys are best friends. As the film opens, the two boys are heading home from school, fervently discussing their favorite topic, soccer. Bhushan, as the better player of the two, gives Avinash some tips to improve his dribbling. All is fine in the world, until Avinash’s elder brother visits from the city with a gift–a fabulous pair of brand-new soccer shoes. It only takes a glance and Bhushan gets overwhelmed by an emotion that has so far been unfamiliar, a sense of envy that gets increasingly intolerable and which will ultimately threaten the boys’ friendship when the pair of shoes goes missing.

Set within a lush Gujarat landscape RAMMAT-GAMMAT asks us to consider how class barriers socially condition our young ones to perpetuate existing power structures but, ultimately delivers a tender and potent message about the fortitude of children and the beauty of friendship.

This film is part of a special program entitled “Childhood on Edge”, curated by the legendary Uma da Cunha, who has been IFFLA’s Programming Advisor since the festival’s inception in 2002. The program features six films with diverse characters on the verge of the momentous transformation from childhood to adulthood. 

DIRECTOR

Ajitpal Singh is a self-taught filmmaker living in Mumbai. His debut feature as a writer-director FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS had its world premiere at Sundance 2021 in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. His short film, RAMMAT-GAMMAT, won Special Mention at Oberhausen. His first screenplay was part of Sundance Screenwriters Lab in 2012 where it won the Sundance Grant.