DIFF 2021: Devashish Makhija on his award-winning short, ‘Cheepatakadumpa’
The Hindu
The director on the dark comedy that explores women’s sexuality and his other film, Cycle, that are firing up the festival circuit
Devashish Makhija’s short films Cheepatakadumpa (Hindi) and Cycle (multilingual), which were recently screened at the Dharamshala International Film Fest (DIFF), can’t be more different. The former is about three girls in a small town speaking about physical desire using a tomato as a demonstration tool — and one of them discovering what her body is capable of — while Cycle is about the systemic violence by the State on people of the forest, and the ripple effect such violence has.
If Cheepatakadumpa, which won the Gender Sensitivity Award at DIFF, leaves you chuckling at the irreverent conclusion, Cycle forces you to acknowledge tribal people’s right to determine their lives. In both films, the gaze is intimate and immediate, not voyeuristic.