Stuff that dreams are made of

Chiru Tej Singh', the short film named after the tribal girl on whose life it is based on, went on to receive Special Appreciation Award at SIIMA 2019.

The film directed by Dr E Anand Kumar is about the nine-year-old tribal girl, who entered the Indian Book of Records by identifying 126 nations in a minute.

The 30-minute short film stresses upon how a tribal girl's life changes with her mother's support, shares the director of the short film.

Despite limited means and backwardness of the area that Chiru comes from, her mother sees a dream, successfully inspires the young girl, who she feels is intelligent and the daughter decides to work hard and achieve her goal.

Tell us about the short film

"I have done three short films including Chiru Tej Singh. I focus on women empowerment and child development stories. I have received many awards for such short films.

Coming to this particular short film, the girl is from Maiboobabad. She entered into various records by identifying 126 nations in a minute, and we wanted to introduce her story to the world in a biopic style.

We have just added a few fiction elements for cinematic presentation. We roped in Chiru to play herself, and Sowmya Venu Gopal and Manali Rathod play the other main roles.

Tell us about Chiru?

She belongs to a Lambada community and her parents are teachers there. One day her mother happened to read an article about a girl identifying different nations in a particular time, and she hoped to make her daughter achieve the feat.

She made her daughter practice, and eventually Chiru started showing interest in what she was learning and gradually started identifying nations within short timeframe.

That is when she entered the record book of India. Now she is targeting Guiness book of world records.

How did you approach the story and present it for wider viewership?

We shot the film in such a way that we understand how the tribal girl from a poor background works hard with the encouragement from her mother.

Few scenes like her mother helping her in identifying nations by drawing rangoli etc,. add a charming element to the film narration.

One can get to watch the short film on YouTube

What drew you to women issues?

Basically I used to conduct health camps. I used to observe the hidden talents among the underprivileged women and showcasing them is not an easy thing.

I wanted to get their talent into lime light and it is the same reason that I made this film.

Has anyone come forward to support the girl in any way?

Till today no one has approched us, and it is very surprising. I have been supporting her till date.