About the Director
Priya Ramasubban is a reputed filmmaker who has traveled the world for over fifteen years making films for National Geographic, Discovery, History Channel and other major international broadcasters. She is a storyteller at heart and has the ability to deal with complex subjects in a nuanced way allowing for textured interpretation. She has written and directed Lost Kings of Israel (National Geographic), Divine Delinquents (National Geographic), several episodes on the long-running series Digging for the Truth (History Channel), episodes on the series Into the Unknown (Discovery Channel), an episode on Monster Fish (National Geographic) and several others notable productions. Priya was one of the six people chosen from all over India as a part of a screenwriter’s lab organized by the National Film Development Corporation where she recieved an opportunity to evolve her story for Chuskit under the mentorship of award-winning Dutch writer Jolein Laarman.
Director's Statement
Conversations with my sister, Vidya, sowed the seeds for my film ‘Chuskit’. Vidya has worked with the differently abled in Ladakh for almost a decade. She was instrumental in sending Sonam, a nine-year-old with cerebral palsy to school despite the arduous terrain in her remote Himalayan village. While working with Sonam, Vidya learnt of other such children who yearned to lead as normal a childhood as they could. Their stories were filled with pathos and hardships, yet not one of the children gave up their quest to go to school. That is why I shaped Chuskit’s character to be unrelenting and gave her the spunk to triumph over adversity. For most children outside the West, life as a differently abled person is tough at best and excruciatingly hard at worst. My wish is that a small measure of hope and inspiration stays with the audiences when they walk away from my film.
Team
WE WALK THE TALK
All the unit heads of Chuskit except two are women, including our director Priya Ramasubban, producer Namrata Goyal, executive producers Priyanka Agarwal and Anshulika Dubey, editor Jabeen Merchant, production designer Aradhana Seth, art director Swapnali Das, costume designer Deepali Kosta Kabi and script mentor Jolein Laarman.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
INCLUSION
We conducted an open call to hire people with disabilities as a part of the Chuskit crew. Tsering Gyurmet answered the call. He was trained on the job and became an indispensable part of the costume department.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS
During the entire duration of the film shoot, we maintained a policy against single use plastic. Every member on set -- cast or crew -- was given a steel bottle for their personal use and the use of plastic was strictly prohibited. Even though the shoot took place in remote areas in the mountains where carrying utensils and dishes were difficult, we made sure to choose the environment over convenience.
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