Based on the life of an ordinary delivery boy, Dharakala's BHOJAN is a must-watch arthouse film

The brilliance showcased in a theatrical instances often arise from how close the storyline stays to its soil, how realistic the script is, how simple and deep the plot is, and the sheer relevance of the same to our realities. Of course, brilliance in acting and direction come later and play as big a role.

But how about we tell you a production house in your city, Lucknow, has come up with an amalgamation of the above, creating a a well-woven story that has bagged prestigious awards already? And how about we add that this humble short film will release pretty soon?

Intrigued?

Produced by Dharakala, BHOJAN is an aberrant story enunciating the simple joys and heavy burdens of and revolving around the life of an austere delivery guy.

He's a young adult who is developing a fresh perspective of the world, who's out by himself and is enticed by the palatial houses he is stepping into to deliver food, by the opulence of the upper classes, by luxury cars, and the life of the rich. He aspires to be a big man one day until this castle of dreams is shattered by one frustrated and rude customer that reprimands him. Suddenly, the mountain of hardships seems to have grown bigger than ever.

Will the downtrodden protagonist be able to suffice himself and fulfil his dreams and desires? Will he break the cycle of the rich getting richer, and will he make a name for himself?

The arthouse film created from scratch, Bhojan engulfs food and hunger — hunger for dreams, for validation, for success, for money and power, and, of course, for food.

Directed by the exemplars Himanshu Singh and Pritish Raj, Dharakala's Bhojan stars proficient, young, and up-and-coming actors like Rohit Mandal, Pankhuri Gidwani, Mohit Arya, Arpit Baba, Archana Shukla, among others. While Rishi Tewari is the creative director of the film, the story is by Srishti Roy.

Dharakala, that literally translates to dharti x qala, stands true to its name. Since 2017, the space has been honing the skills of aspiring theatre artistes that the city has produced and proffering them a platform, a stage to express themselves and shine. Step by step, the good folks at Dharakala have built a community of like-minded individuals who've joined hands to spin unique narratives.

The production house and artiste space theatre takes pride in aberrant, humble, and socially realistic films or parallel cinematic experiences. And Bhojan is one of Dharakala's such soulful and indigenous creations.

For all the film enthusiasts, Bhojan is coming to YouTube, Airtel X Stream, Hungama, and MX Player, this March 11. It brings along with it converses in Awadhi and shots of Lucknow's Gomti Nagar, Ekana Stadium, and more.

The film, that bagged the 2022 One Earth Award and emerged as a winner at the 12th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival, is almost here to entertain and provoke thoughtful conversations, inspire and connect with the hearts of the spectators!