A dream of every indie filmmaker: First fiction film got premiered on big screen
- Jan 7, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2025
Updated: May 22, 2024
Many times, you'll hear elders in Ladakh recounting the story of their childhood when they used to go to the community centre in their village to watch movies. It used to be very crowded. When songs played, everyone would start dancing.
Even today, Ladakh is a place where perhaps only 2% of the people would go to watch a movie in the theatre. Perhaps that's why there's only one theatre in Ladakh.
When we told people that we want to showcase our Ladakhi film KEMRA, we were also suggested the same thing: to book the village community hall and screen the film there. But arranging such an event during Ladakh's winters was not feasible for us. Since our film was self-funded, we couldn't afford the expenses for projectors, speakers, heaters, and all of that. But like every filmmaker, we also wanted our film to reach the people.
We thought since there's already a theatre, we wouldn't need to arrange anything. Upon talking, we were granted permission to have two shows in two days. We couldn't contain our happiness. Who would have thought about the possibility of showcasing our first film to people on a big screen?
We got two shows for two days because the rest of the slots were taken by "Drishyam-2." We couldn't believe that our first fiction film's poster was next to "Drishyam's."
Now the next challenge was to get this information to the people and convince them to come to the theatre. The theatre suggested getting posters made. However, making large posters in Ladakh was expensive, and time was limited. So, we placed an order for A3-size posters in Delhi and had them mailed to Ladakh. Every day, we went to new cafes, shops, homes of people, and villages close to Leh, sticking up the posters. We also created a pamphlet and started distributing it to whoever we met on the streets, in the main market, and everywhere around. While distributing these pamphlets, we also got the opportunity to interact with people and know their thoughts, and a lot of them did eventually end up coming to the theatre. A friend from here also told us about the old times, when they used to make announcements on loudspeakers, and many people would listen. So, we rented a loudspeaker for three days, recorded a Ladakhi message, and played it in every village and every street with the speaker attached to the top of our car. We were also able to advertise about our film, only for a few seconds, on the local news channel. We just hoped that enough people would come to watch for those two days.
Finally, the day arrived for our first screening, and the response was so overwhelming that instead of two days, our film screened for two weeks. Many times, so many people showed up that they halted "Drishyam" screenings to accommodate ours. Instead of two, we started having four shows a day. Our film received praise from people of all age groups, but the most interest came from young children. Various schools organized trips for the students almost every day to watch the film. The theatre’s capacity was for 140 people, but in many shows, extra chairs were added to accommodate up to 170 people.
All of this feels like a dream come true, something I couldn't have dared to imagine as a first-time fiction filmmaker.
While writing this, I feel overwhelmed and emotional. Every moment of those two weeks holds immense significance for me, but there are certain moments that give me hope during times when I feel low or disheartened about my journey as an independent filmmaker. I would love to share some of those special moments with my readers, filled with joy and hope:
1. One of the most heartwarming moments was when many children told us that watching the film in the theatre was their first-ever experience of cinema, especially seeing a film from their community on such a big screen.
2. It's been quite touching to experience that many times, in chance encounters, children from the village call out to me by my character name, Neha. Even one of our protagonists from the film Chhosla, a girl studying in 5th grade at that time, shared her experience where she was recognized by many fellow kids in her tuition classes or for the film.
3. One day, while giving out tickets, I noticed a 70+ lady at the counter, dressed in her traditional attire, who had come alone from her village just to watch the film. She told me that she had a keen interest in watching Ladakhi films, and because it had been so long since a Ladakhi film was released, she didn't want to miss this opportunity.
These are the moments that will inspire me to keep working and learning, no matter how difficult the times may be. Here's to many more such enriching experiences ahead!
Watch our film KEMRA, and we'll be happy to read about your experience of watching it!
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