Screening of Avaar Navaar Chhoriyan

An animation film by Shefalee Jain and Shivi Bhatnagar | Presentation by the filmmaker duo about the process of filmmaking

This May Day, SSAF Lab hosted a private screening of the film ‘अवार-नवार छोरियां’ [‘Every Now and Then Girls’] (20:51 min, 2025) by Shefalee Jain and Shivi Bhatnagar. After the screening, the filmmakers made a detailed presentation about the process of making the film—the visual references, shooting and editing process as well as the sound design which is an integral part of the film.

The film is a hand drawn, hand cut stop-motion animation which is an adaptation of the Rajasthani folktale ‘Dohri Joon’, collected by Vijaydan Detha in his 14 volumes of folktales from Rajasthan titled ‘Batan Ri Phulwari’. The film adapts this folktale and locates it in a small town, Sheoganj, Rajasthan to retell it in the contemporary time. The film has three non-human narrators, the Tiddi (locust), Danda Thhor (a succulent plant) and Sarus crane. Each of the narrators tells the story of two girls. These stories revolve around oppressive patriarchal structures; the desire to challenge, change or leave behind these structures; friendships between women and the possibility of new imagined futures. Taking a cue from the folktale form, the film makes use of non-linear storytelling and magic realism.

The project was supported by the Mrinalini Mukherjee Creative Art Grant 2022-23.

अवार-नवार छोरियां / Every Now and Then Girls…

A stop motion animation by

Shefalee Jain and Shivi Bhatnagar

Sound and music conceptualised and directed by

Lokesh Khodke

Sound co-direction, additional production and composition by

Ayashi Music (Srinath and Ayan)