Himanshu Malik’s CHITRAKUT Story Of Encapsulating Love

Himanshu Malik’s CHITRAKUT Story Of Encapsulating Love

Himanshu Malik’s CHITRAKUT Story Of Encapsulating Love. Set against a lush Western Indian landscape during the monsoon season, CHITRAKUT delicately sets the tone, interweaving the lives of Saloni, Shaan, Debu, Alisha and Kim – all converging at different intersections of life, discovering the meaning of love, encapsulating fractured feelings, consumption of romantic longing and fleeting moments.

Chitrakut revolves around the lives of five people, their journey of change and metamorphosis as they search for love and companionship. When Debu met Alisha the beginning of a great love story blossomed in his head, unknown to him she was in a desperate attempt to get over her past love.

“Shaan finds the meaning of Love after having lost it while Alisha finds her feet as an individual and opens her own little boutique of designer dresses” Debu and Saloni convert their chance meetings into a friendship of sorts or probably even more.

Himanshu began his filmmaking career as an assistant on Mira Nair’s Kamasutra- A Tale of Love. Further to that, he went on to the performing arts, acting in a number of feature films, notably Tum Bin, Khwahish etc. He turned filmmaker in 2012 – Writing and Directing, his first short – ‘Q.E.D (Quod Erat Demonstradum). MALIK PICTURES is a production house that was founded in 2014 under which Himanshu has directed various music videos and advertising content for numerous India based brands.

CHITRAKUT is his first fiction feature, which is also been Produced by his company Malik Pictures.

Himanshu Malik tells us more about his film in an interview.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and when did you realize your interest in film making?
After spending a few years in front of the cameras, the lack of good stories and exciting storytellers became very frustrating. The stories I was seeing around me or within me were not something that was being told so I very simply upped and decided to tell those stories.

Chitrakut an amazing film. Why did you name it Chitarkut?
Thank you for your compliment. I think it is the influence of my Ramayana background, my family hails from Jhansi which is a few miles from Ayodhya and Chitrakut. All my uncles and father and Grandfather can recite the Tulsidas text verbatim at the drop of a hat. So somewhere I guess subconsciously I processed the epic in my own way and then found my own interpretations and truths in it. As for when the name came to me- it was an inspired morning when I was trying to encapsulate the idea of the film into a title that it came to me in a flash.
Why was a story told from a perspective of a foreigner? What was the idea behind it?
For me, it was not a perspective of a foreigner, but more from an individual who is starting life afresh. We all do that many times in our lives, move on from a past into another future. That was more the idea of bringing a character from another country. So it is the cycle of start and refreshes that also is a theme in the film, where your past impacts you and changes you for the next part of your life.

What made you decide to work on such a sensitive subject? Love is a risky subject.
Yes, I completely agree, it is a risky subject. It is very tough to say something new about love that has not been said. But the fact that matters of the heart impact each and every one of us all the time and play such an important role in lives that it was very intriguing. It was only when I could found something truly interesting to say about it that I made the film. It took many years of gestation to write this script. As in the thought of writing a film on this subject was in my head for a long long time.

The direction and storyline are quite amazing. The film can be tasted, smelled and seen all at the same time. Who is your inspiration as a director?
Thank you again for your kind words. It would be fair to say that it was all the passion and pain of love- past and present- from within my heart that found its way on the screen.

Do you think film and television have a direct effect in changing society?
Not anymore, it used to at one point. But now I think the greatest influencer of our times is social media.

What are the five apps you use most on your phone?
Gmail, Whats app, Insta, Apple music, facetime

Life is a……
Life is a….life is a….life is a…….life is a….(still thinking).

What is a regular day for you?
Eat sleep love play art

Some words for your audience…
Please watch Chitrakut, whenever and wherever you can.