Siddharth Chauhan, the award-winning independent filmmaker from Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, has made it to ‘Oscar Qualifying Film Festival’ for his latest regional short film: PASHI. It is the only film from India to have been selected for the screening at the prestigious Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIFF) 2017, which is to be held in August in the United States.

RIIFF is an official Oscar qualifying event and if Pashi wins an award at this festival, it will directly be nominated for the prestigious Academy Awards or the Oscars Awards. According to Siddharth, as an independent film production house based in Shimla, this is a dream come true and an unparalleled honor for all of us.

This is not the first time, his short film has gone global. Before this, his short film “Papa” won the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Short Film Festival. Now, his latest film has started its journey towards the Oscars.

About Pashi

‘Pashi’ means ‘a trap’ in the regional Pahari spoken in Rohru (Nawar valley). Pashi is a traditional concept that’s used by villagers and children for hunting birds and animals. The film is inspired by Siddharth’s childhood memories in his village Dhanoti (in Rohru).

Written, directed and produced by Siddharth, Pashi is a story of a young boy named Chetan, who learns about the traditional technique of trapping birds from his grandmother Savitri Ji. As he begins to practice it, his friend John encourages him to go for it, while his mother remains worried about his future.

Most parts of the film are shot in Village Khalwan, whereas some parts were filmed in Village Dhanoti neat Tikker.

Lead Actors:

Chetan Kanwar, a Class XII student at the Chapslee School, Shimla

John Negi, a model/actor from Rampur

Kamayani Bisht, an English Professor at the Government College Theog

Savitri Devi Sunta, the oldest family member of the Sunta family in Khawalan

Supporting cast – Dewansh Kanwar (Chapslee School), Dev Ranta (Rohru), and Aditi Sunta ( Rohru).

Check out Pashi – Official Trailer on Youtube.