Hockey on the Rocks

Suanshu Khurana

It was in 2007, while shooting his debut film Frozen — the story of a Ladakhi widower, who lives with his two children and makes apricot jam in the Northern Himalayas — that filmmaker Shivajee Chandrabhushan came across an amateur ice hockey team in Ladakh. “I included a small sequence of ice hockey in Frozen. Till then, I did not know about ice hockey in India, though I am a sportsperson,” recalls Chandrabhushan. His name might not sound familiar to cine fans but his credentials will. Frozen won the 39-year-old a National Award in 2009, and premiered in Toronto, apart from travelling to a slew of prestigious festivals. Now, the independent filmmaker is back with his second venture, One More. The multi-lingual film depicts Ladakh’s ice hockey team, that plays hockey on frozen lakes and ponds. It deals with their dream of playing in an international tournament.

“When Ladakh was rocked by a devastating mudslide due to cloudburst last year, I wanted to do something. The rest of the world responded to the tragedy, but few in India acted. That made me more convinced that I should make my next film in Ladakh,” says the Mumbai-based filmmaker, who has mentioned the cloud burst in the movie. His aim, he says, is to portray the story of simple mountain people and their passion for a game that they pursue without any government support. It documents their struggle to construct an indoor ice rink, to enable playing throughout the year.

Since the film is based on a true story, the cast comprises, among others an ex army officer, a hotelier, local filmmakers, students and local politicians, actually involved with the game. “These people have been struggling for the last 15-20 years to keep the game alive, despite the extreme weather conditions. The biggest eye opener for me was that this game can only be played in January, when the average temperature is minus 20 degrees,” says Chandrabhushan, adding that frozen lakes and ponds can be termed as the highest ice rinks in the world.

The filmmaker also had to overcome several challenges while shooting. “This is a sync-sound film. Ladakh is such a silent place that you can hear your own thoughts, so controlling the sound was one issue. Few people had some issues with the weather initially, but later everyone was comfortable,” says Chandrabhushan, who has shot the film on a shoestring budget, opting for crowd funding, a medium now used by many new-age filmmakers. “It is an interesting way to get people involved and show the bigger producers and corporates that people are interested in such projects,” he says. Isn’t it easier to get funds after a National Award? “Winning a National Award for your debut feature and getting funds for your next film are not connected. We have done the Ladakh schedule with the help of Winter Sports Club of Ladakh and our production manager in Ladakh borrowed money from people. We have taken loans on interest and used our own money,” says Chandrabhushan, who has no other projects lined-up.

“I don’t like the manner in which the industry works, but I have to work within it. Everyone thinks that they know the formula, but we should leave it to the audience to decide,” he explains.