Qissa-E-Circus A Ballad Of The Circus India, Japan

Qissa-E-Circus

A Ballad Of The Circus

India, Japan | Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, English | Drama, Others

Budget USD 652,616 Financing in place USD 163,154 Production Company Cotton Flower Films

Present at Film Bazaar Savita Singh Looking for Co-Producers Financiers Sales/Sales Agents

Synopsis

Qissa-e-Circus traces the journey of Jhumpa, a middle-aged tribal circus performer, as she finds herself at a disconcerting juncture in her life, where her identity, both as an artist and as a woman, is under attack. In a patriarchal set up, Jhumpa takes up the challenge of a male dominated role - the clown, something that is unheard of in Indian circuses. Captain Clown, her friend, helps her understand the art of clowning but eventually resists her experiments with the form. Vipul, her ex and the circus manager, want her to become a dancer at private parties, while Shridhar, the married man she has a relationship with, cannot offer her legitimacy. She goes back to her roots to fill the voids of her identity and finds her voice as an artist with her own unique performative language. Parallel to her journey are the caste struggles of the stunt bike driver Bincy and her daughter Grace and Ravi, the new entrant struggling with his sexual identity. This film employs the decaying atmosphere of the vibrant and pluralistic society of circus as the backdrop for a commentary on gender and patriarchy.

Coming from a village in Haryana, I tried adapting my journey as a woman cinematographer, to portray how Jhumpa slowly develops an understanding of the structural impositions of patriarchy and learns to break out of her deep-rooted shackles. The film travels between Jhumpa’s inner world - a chaotic harmony of loss of childhood, finding her artistic voice and her outer world- her struggle of trying to survive in the circus through clowning. The gypsy like existence of the circus performers, their influences of class, caste, religion, music, poetry intersect to weave a magical realist, simple yet absurd narrative style. The sound will evoke the inner landscape of the performer’s psyche and the ballad style music will lend a melancholic quality to the film. The camera style shall alternate between vérité and stylised, slow, lingering movements. We will cast real circus performers to bring out the socio-cultural resonance of the Indian Circus.

Director(s)’ Biography

An FTII Cinematography postgraduate, Savita Singh has carved a niche for herself with her work on Kramasha, Seventh Walk, Phoonk Ventilator, Hawaizaada and Indian Predator- Murder in the Courtroom, to name a few. She has won two National Film Awards for Best Cinematography (Kramasha and Sonsi). Her directorial debut short Sonsi won the ‘Best Film’ in Indian Competition at the Bangalore International Short Film festival and qualified to enter the Oscar shorts in the year 2021. In 2017, she co-founded Indian Savita Singh Women Cinematographer’s Collective (IWCC) and was conferred with a Director & Producer lifetime membership of the Indian Society of Cinematographers in 2021. (+91) 9920885038

savitasinghdop@gmail.com

Producer(s)’ Biography

Born in Japan, Kyoko Dan has worked for Asian Cinema as a distributor, buyer and publicist since 1987. She is an adviser/committee member for Busan & Shanghai International Film Festival and is now producing films with Indian female filmmakers. Her producer filmography includes Urumi, Tahaan and Inam for Santosh Sivan.

Kyoko Dan Producer

(+81) 9016720475 kdan@mrj.biglobe.ne.jp