https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Chalchitra_AbhiyaanChalchitra Abhiyaan - Revision history2026-10-31T11:50:32ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chalchitra_Abhiyaan&diff=493198&oldid=prevShaunak88 at 07:38, 17 March 20262026-03-17T07:38:53Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian film and media collective}}<br />
{{Infobox organization<br />
| founded = {{Start date|2016}}<br />
| founder = [[Nakul Singh Sawhney]]<br />
| founding_location = [[Muzaffarnagar]], [[Shamli]], [[Baghpat]], [[Meerut]], [[Saharanpur]]<br />
| website = {{url|https://chalchitraabhiyaan.com}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Chalchitra Abhiyaan''' is a film and media collective based in [[Shamli district]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]. It covers five districts of [[Western Uttar Pradesh]], [[Shamli]], [[Muzaffarnagar]], [[Baghpat]], [[Meerut]], [[Saharanpur]].<br />
<br />
Filmmaker [[Nakul Singh Sawhney]] founded it after working on his acclaimed documentary ''[[Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai]]'' on the 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli district of North India that led to the displacement of over 100,000 people from the sugarcane belt.<br />
<br />
Since 2016, the collective has trained<ref>{{cite web |title=A Small Collective in a UP Town Redefines Journalistic Practice |url=https://thewire.in/media/chalchitra-abhiyaan-redefining-journalistic-practice |website=The Wire |access-date=30 Jul 2022}}</ref> people from these areas-both urban and rural-to bring their issues into the public domain through <ref>{{cite web |title=Counter culture movement for Marginalised Voices in UP |url=https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/8/13803/Chalchitra-Abhiyaan:Counter-Culture-Movement-For-Marginalised-Voices-In-UP-- |website=The Citizen |date=14 May 2018 |access-date=14 May 2018}}</ref> news reports, documentaries and films. Their core team includes riot survivors and former brick kiln workers and farmers among others.<br />
<br />
They have actively reported<ref>{{cite web |title=How ChalChitra Abhiyaan Gives You a Glimpse Into Real India |url=https://www.sbcltr.in/how-chalchitra-abhiyaan-gives-you-a-glimpse-into-real-india/ |website=Sbcltr |date=17 November 2017 |publisher=Subculture |access-date=17 Nov 2017}}</ref> on the agrarian crisis, landlessness among the [[Dalit]] community, sectarian violence, livelihood, labour rights, politics,<ref>{{cite web |title=Creating a counter narrative |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/features/creating-a-counter-narrative-602184 |work=The Tribune |access-date=9 June 2018}}</ref> and breakdown of the rural economy. These issues are often <ref>{{cite web |title=Bringing about a cultural intervention for unity |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/bringing-about-a-cultural-intervention-for-unity/cid/1726944 |website=The Telegraph |access-date=14 Dec 2019}}</ref> not reported in corporate mainstream media that focuses on target audience-generated profits.<br />
<br />
Sawhney views the team’s work as a “cultural intervention in the Gramscian sense” and feels that these everyday spaces and day-to-day recreational activities can be an effective means to break the hegemony of dominant ideological formations.<ref>https://thewire.in/media/chalchitra-abhiyaan-redefining-journalistic-practice#google_vignette</ref><br />
<br />
==Film screenings and use of mobile theatres to disseminate news==<br />
<br />
They are also unique in their <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=12218 |website=Goldsmiths, University of Londons |publisher=Department Centre for Feminist Research (CFR), Media, Communications and Cultural Studies |access-date=28 Jan 2019 |title=Short Films by ChalChitra Abhiyaan: A Screening and Discussion }}</ref> dissemination of news. Apart from distributing their reports and films online, they also take their video stories from village to village screening them on projectors at village choupals, [[panchayats]], schools etc. They also <ref>{{cite web |title=The Revolution Will Be Screened |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-others/the-revolution-will-be-screened-nakul-singh-sawhney-5205590/ |website=The Indian Express |date=6 June 2018 |access-date=6 June 2018}}</ref> screen international cinema in these rural parts, sometimes live translating the film because the illiterate villagers cannot read subtitles.<br />
<br />
Since most of the single screens have shut down in small towns in India which were an affordable way for people to watch cinema together, the film screenings are a way to reintroduce collective viewing of quality content and cinema that is no longer accessible in socio-economically marginalised sections of India. The aim is to initiate discussions and debates on the contemporary socio-economic realities of India and the world. <ref>{{cite news |title=DIGIPUB slams attack on two ChalChitra Abhiyaan journalists in U.P. |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/digipub-slams-attack-on-two-chalchitra-abhiyaan-journalists-in-up/article65667153.ece |website=The Hindu |date=21 July 2022 |access-date=21 July 2022}}</ref><br />
<br />
Some films that have stimulated intense dialogue among the community include [[Sadgati]] (directed by Satyajit Ray), [[Kala (2021 film)|Kala]] (directed by Rohit V.S.) and [[Ram Ke Naam|Raam ke Naam]] (directed by Anand Patwardhan), [[Children of Heaven]] (directed by Majid Majidi) among others. <br />
<br />
Over the past few years, they have developed dedicated viewership in more than ten villages where on average 60 to 100 people watch<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kishore |first1=Shweta |title=Re-framing documentary's victims: documentary and collective victimhood at Indian media collective Chalchitra Abhiyan |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17503280.2021.1887989?journalCode=rsdf20 |journal=Studies in Documentary Film |year=2023 |volume=17 |pages=14–31 |doi=10.1080/17503280.2021.1887989 |s2cid=233770030 |access-date=5 Feb 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> films together on a weekly basis. The post-screening discussions on news and cinema create a healthy space to debate, critique, and discuss contemporary issues.<br />
<br />
The screenings are sometimes disrupted by political goons either by instigating village pradhans or by disconnecting the electricity supply. <ref>https://thewire.in/media/chalchitra-abhiyaan-redefining-journalistic-practice</ref><br />
<br />
Over 3,000 people attend film and news screenings annually. <br />
<br />
They have been <ref>{{cite web |title=ChalChitra Abhiyaan reporters accosted while reporting on GST rate hike in UP |url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2022/07/21/chalchitra-abhiyaan-reporters-accosted-while-reporting-on-gst-rate-hike-in-up |website=Newslaundry |date=21 July 2022 |access-date=21 Jul 2022}}</ref> attacked and detained<ref>{{cite web |title=ChalChitra Abhiyaan Journalists Allege Threats by BJP Supporter in UP Village |url=https://www.thequint.com/news/india/chalchitra-abhiyaan-journalists-threats-bjp-supporter-uttar-pradesh-reporting-gst |website=The Quint |date=21 July 2022 |access-date=21 Jul 2022}}</ref> several times for reporting these issues.<br />
<br />
==Reading room and Travelling Library==<br />
<br />
The collective also runs a library that is used by young people in Kandhla as a reading room, film screening space and training centre, where they study, discuss readings and films and learn the basics of video production. These training programs are designed for rural West UP youth to gain professional skills in film-making, editing, journalism and media training. <br />
<br />
CCA also runs travelling library in West UP where members take books to children in remote villages on bikes to introduce them to different kinds of literature which is inaccessible in small towns. This library program is designed to take books to children in villages to inculcate love for books<ref>https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/alternate-media-rises-in-rural-up-as-youngsters-take-up-filming-1215695.html</ref> <br />
<br />
The travelling library reaches 1,000 children annually.<br />
<br />
==Youtube Channel==<br />
<br />
CCA’s Youtube Channel started in 2016. It is an archive of news and feature stories from West UP. It has 150k subscribers, all of them organically built with viewers from rural areas where most people from marginalised sections do not have resources and internet. It has over 1800 ground reports and over 22 million views. It is one of the largest Youtube channels with ground reportage from rural North India. <br />
<br />
CCA has been awarded the Digital Empowerment Foundation Award twice for People's Participation and for bringing social change.<ref>{{cite web |title=Social Media for Empowerment Award for CCA |url=https://sm4e.org/chalchitra-abhiyaan/ |website=sm4e |access-date=22 March 2023}}</ref><br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Film collectives]]</div>Shaunak88