A border town, Chheharta has been conspicuous in the public eye for reasons other than just its proximity to the Attari/ Wagah border or its religious history. It was also an important industrial centre on India's map, home to 13-14 large mills and several other small scale factories, power looms and handlooms. The driving force behind the mills was also Chheharta's once dominant population - the working class.
"Once Upon a Time in Chheharta" is both a personal journey and a historic account of the working class movement of Chheharta, now included in the Amritsar Municipal Corporation. The film chronicles the important events and aspects of the movement, from the early 1950's- when my grand uncle and grand aunt, Satyapal Dang and Vimla Dang, both veteran leaders of the undivided Communist Party of India moved to Chheharta.
Having grown up on the stories of the progressive movement of Chheharta, to which my grandparents and many others devoted their entire lives, this film traces the movement through them, through former trade union leaders, former mill workers, some former mill owners and others in Chheharta. All of them reminiscing about old days, and passionately narrating what they remember of the important events that marked the movement. Their personal accounts, their memories are what make the bulk of this film.
The last five decades in Chheharta have been marked with moments of turmoil, resistance, protest, victories and failures and this film looks at some of the more prominent events while attempting to chronicle this history. Events that talk about how the working class of this town fought to safeguard its rights, how the working class of Chheharta came together to see the town through many social, political and economic upheavals, how the women of Chheharta, under the banner of the "Punjab Istri Sabha" participated in every strike and struggle, thus becoming an integral part of the movement.
The film ends with a look at Chheharta today and examines the reasons for the closure of the mills.
Duration: 130 minutes
Language: Hindi, English, Punjabi (with English subtitles)
Director- Nakul Sawhney
Editor- Neha Mehra
Camera- Aditi Sharma, Deval Samanta
Sound (location): Nikhil Mula, Vinit D'Souza
Sound Design: Nikhil Mulay
Excerpt from the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiOrDO6BZGE
Excerpt from the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiOrDO6BZGE
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