Goatspeak (Khashi Katha)
94 mins | Bangla (English subtitles) | India
Goatspeak (Khashi Katha) is a blend of fantasy and reality alongside incisive social and political statements. It is no love story but a political indictment on the marginalized and is definitely one of the new crop of unconventional Bengali cinema with its own style that evokes a seductive freshness.
The narrative returns often to a goat in a sassy, colloquial, story-telling conversation with a butcher much like in the Arabian Nights. Yet it is a jaunty multilayered, cinematic commentary of several aspects of the anxieties and realities of todays Bengal are blended into several small stories and ideas built around one of hope and determination of a simple muslim girl who wants to break the mould by being unconventional.
Directed By: Judhajit Sarkar
Produced By: Starfire Movies
Dialogue : Surajit Dhar
Animation - Innovative Animation
Music - Raja Narayan Deb
Anindita Das
Naseerudin Shah
Prasun Gyne
Biswajit Mukherjee
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
“The freewheeling passion of youth and the unpredictable perils of fate are both the subject and the breathtaking form of 22 years old Salma’s journey through kinship, friendship, love, failure, and success in the boxing ring. Based on the backdrop of Topsia area of Kolkata, Goatspeak (Khashi Katha) is a heart-warming story of twins, Salma and Parvez, who are left to face the hurdles of life when their father, Zaheed, develops Parkinson’s disease and loses his job in a tannery. This is a tale narrated by a talking goat about a failed boxer while the sister overcomes all odds and succeeds on becoming one. The story begins in a slaughterhouse where a goat (the principle narrator) is awaiting its slaughter by a butcher (Naseeruddin Shah). Much to the dismay of the butcher, the goat starts talking and asks the butcher to spare it while telling him that he has a story to narrate.
Some elements of magic realism is used in the film incorporating some commercial elements to build up magic realism in my own way. I believe in a certain madness because that is what is lacking in Bengali cinema now.
JUDHAJIT SARKAR