From left to right - Ratnamala Divkar (Actor & Singer), Barkha Naik ( Writer & Director), Abhiraj Rawale ( Director of Photography) and Heramb Kirtany ( Producer).
PANAJI
Goan filmmaker Barkha Naik won a prestigious national award for her Konkani film ‘Salt’ at the 18th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) on June 21. The award, which includes a Silver Conch, a certificate, and a cash prize, brings recognition and prestige to Konkani cinema. The festival is organised by the Government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Barkha and the producer of ‘Salt’, Heramb Kirtany, received the award from veteran Indian filmmaker Kiran Shantaram.
The film explores the strained relationship between a newly widowed father and his young son, who eventually reconcile their frustrations and find some ‘salt’ in their monotonous lives. ‘Salt’ was also among Netflix’s Top Ten in a nationwide competition last year, competing with over 1,500 young filmmakers.
This unexpected award for Barkha came with a certificate, trophy, and cash prize, marking her debut film’s success in the Goan film industry.
“This is my first film outside of film school,” Barkha said, smiling. She had uploaded it on YouTube a year ago and tried submitting it to various film festivals, but many required that submitted films not be publicly available. However, MIFF accepted it, leading to this award. “It’s a joy to have won this award as the film was made with a lot of love,” she added, reflecting on her long-nurtured passion for filmmaking.
Barkha recalled making films as a seven-year-old during summer vacations with her cousins. “I used to make films as a seven-year-old kid when we visited my maternal aunt during the summer vacations with my cousins. I must admit our adventures of using the newly introduced mobile cameras to shoot stupid, silly and horrible films. But we had a lot of fun, as we genuinely put a lot of effort into making these short films,” recalls Barkha.
She had won the National Bal Shree Honour for acting at seven, awarded by then-President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
While studying at Chowgule College in Margao, she met friends who shared her interest in films. “My friends watched films from all over the world, and after finishing their education in Goa, they went elsewhere to learn filmmaking,” says Barkha, who had no intention of becoming a filmmaker at that time. It was just a hobby for her, and she pursued a career in Political Science. However, her friends at Chowgule, Heramb Kirtany, Mukund Sincro, and Deep Sawant, had already chosen careers in filmmaking.
After earning a BA in political science from Fergusson College in Pune, Barkha returned to Goa unsure of her next steps. She worked with Anand Patwardhan on the documentary ‘Vivek’ for 10 months, which was emotionally challenging but enjoyable. This experience led her to study filmmaking at the Prague Film and Television Institute in Czechoslovakia for three years. She spent another two years making films and recently completed her graduation film. Barkha is now writing and hoping to produce her first feature film soon.
