Starring: Nishith Ranjan Voices of: Sheeza Kazmi, Loveena Tondon, Kundan Kanan, Amit Sharma, Kapil Pandey, Kshama Dutt Editing: B Rajagopal DOP: Vikramjit Singh Line Producer: Sheeza Kazmi Unit Manager: Shoonya Written, Produced & Directed by: Kapil Pandey Shooting Format: DV Running Time: 20 minutes

Synopsis

Kala Kshitij revolves around a 24 year old young man, Raghav, madly in love with a girl, Simmi. Since she doesn't responds to his overtures, he rapes her. Subsequently his guilt and apprehensions drive him insane. He is unable to face his family, especially the women in his family, his mother and sister.

I wanted to gather, to stop and sail
But as intense darkness prevailed,
My shattering identity failed,
To take two steps, deranged,
I stumbled………

The essence of Kala Kshitij lies in these lines. The film plays on the fact that to commit a crime one doesn't have to be a hard-core criminal. Anybody can commit a crime ….At the same time, the film does not justify the crime or its reasons it, just gives us a different perception. It speaks about the darkness into which the protagonist falls after the incident and how this darkness engulfs him inch by inch, second by second. The film also sketches the Indian family system that is bound by the shackles of the so-called society. Which is why Raghav is more fearful about facing his family because he knows that his deed would bring defame to his family. The mere thought of bringing defame to his family devastates him.

When I decided to make the film I had nothing in hand, and here by nothing I mean nothing at all .I had no money, no job and no godfather to back me, just dreams and that to unlimited. This is where my journey began, right from the conception of he idea to the reel reality of the film; the journey was more than a challenge.

I was in Mumbai at that time waiting for a break in films. Frustrated with no success there I made up my mind to make a short film and so I came back to Delhi. I wrote the concept of the film about three years back; at that time I planned a one and a half hour film. But at the time of thinking about a short film I thought it would be great to use this idea and that is how I made my short film on the same script.

For days together I hunted for sponsors bit in vain, there was no sponsor ready to invest on a short film. Luckily, my previous workplace - the BBC offered me to freelance for them. I worked there for two months, lived with friends and saved every penny. Now I had the money but not in plenty .One thing was very clear to me that I had to take lot of favours from friends and colleagues. My first step was a scratch-shoot with a handy cam. This helped me in gaining the confidence of the people whom I wanted to be a part of this project.

While in Mumbai I had met Nishith, I narrated the script to him and he most enthusiastically agreed to act in the film, but when I came to Delhi I was slightly unsure whether he would come all the way from Mumbai to shoot for this film. However, he kept his word and when I finalized my shooting dates he actually came six days in advance all on his own expense! Even my DOP and editor, who are quite senior and for whom I have a lot of professional respect, worked with me on this experimental film for free.

As I had already shot a scratch film for myself I was pretty clear about my shot breakdown, which was a great help to me for the actual shooting. Also, I had rehearsed extensively with Nishith so he too was very clear about the character and my expectation from him as a director. I must say that all this pre-planning made my life very easy on the shoot. An old time writer friend Shoonya handled the production of the film. A film studies student, Aprajita assisted me and arranged for all locations .The Line producer Sheeza, who basically is a graphic designer by profession initiated the whole project and is still working on its promotion. She also designed the poster for the film.

To me, one of the high points in Kala Kshitij, I think is its treatment. It is an experimental 20 minutes film with no background music but an elaborately thought out sound design. It is by and large a single character film with only suggestions and voices of other characters.

The whole shooting of the film is based in Delhi right from shooting till postproduction. We shot for two days almost fifteen hours a day and edited for five days. There is always scope for improvement but with limitations and shoestring budgets each time I view the film I like to think I have got the best possible end result.

Kapil Pandey has worked as an Assistant Director on various TV programmes. Kala Kshitij is his maiden directorial venture. The film has been selected for Bite the Mango Film Festival at Bradford UK, 2004. Currently he is working with Agni TV, directing a travel show.