Kavi (2009)

Written by CinemaSerf on March 17, 2024

I felt really quite uncomfortable watching this short film. It's centred around the eponymous young lad (Sagar Salunkhe) who spends just about every waking hour working at a brick kiln. His parents owe the owner !0,000 rupees but all "Kavi" wants to do is play cricket with the schoolboys he sees every day. His brute of a boss (Ulhas Tayade) promises him a game if he can clear all the reject bricks, but with that prospect looking less and less likely - as he is left chained to a wall - he must surely turn his mind to a change. His encounter with some strangers in the forest might just offer him a glimmer of hope... The performance from the young Salunke is really good here, and as the story contrasts his instinct for freedom with his need to keep his parents safe, the young man faces quite a conundrum - he and 27 millions of others reputedly "employed" in modern day slavery throughout the world.