Awards remind and acknowledge the journey undertaken and the destination reached. And receiving the Silver Conch – the Best Short Fiction Film award – for her Konkani short film, Salt, Barkha Naik might have just felt those emotions on the Mumbai stage as she accepted the award.
It was at the tender age of seven that the silver screen first captured Barkha’s imagination.
“It was my summer vacation activity with my cousins. We used to make small, silly films on my aunt’s phone. The films were terrible, but we had a lot of fun making them,” Naik fondly recollects.
Having graduated in political science, Naik happened to take a gap year to explore the possibility of making films. During that time she also got the opportunity to assist filmmaker Anand Patwardhan on his documentary film, Vivek.
“I then went to Prague, to FAMU, to pursue a Master’s degree in filmmaking and for the last one year I’ve been working in Mumbai, and also been writing my feature film,” shares Naik, feeling elated at her recent accomplishment.
Naik’s short film, Salt, definitely added its own flavour to the 18th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2024, with the film screening and its big win. It had previously made it to Netflix’s Take Ten.
Speaking about the film, Naik revealed that the idea emerged as an amalgamation of a few relationships and characters she’d witnessed closely.
She wanted to enter the Take Ten contest which required one to make films on the theme, ‘Home’.
“I think a home is what its people make it, and often in families, there is that one person who holds everyone together. More often than not, it is the mother,” she says.
Exploring this scenario of what happens to a home in the absence of that binding glue, a mother, Naik’s Salt attempts to highlight how people meet the needs – emotional, logistical and sexual – which were fulfilled by that person.
“I remember we shot the film in just two days. We were all stressed out because the shooting was done quickly. But luckily, it didn't affect the shoot much,” says the young filmmaker, who is currently working on two feature scripts, both in the early stages of writing.
Her triumph at the festival is not only inspiring filmmakers back home, but has also brought recognition to Konkani cinema.
“A lot of Konkani films and filmmakers are getting recognition around the world now, and it makes me very happy,” she smiles.
But in her triumph, she hasn’t forgotten those who helped her.
“My friends – Miransha Naik, Siddesh Naik, Heramb Kirtany, Suyash Kamat, Deep Sawant, Mukund Sincro – and many others who are achievers, themselves, have been so generous and helpful in my projects. I think that is the kind of spirit that is needed,” she says.
As a community, Barkha believes filmmakers need to help each other and support each other in their work in whatever way possible. After all, filmmaking is team work and it takes many to breathe life into a story.