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chuskitA film by Priya Ramasubban
When a disastrous fall in her Himalayan village leaves 6-year-old
Chuskit a paraplegic, she must convince her family that her dream
of going to school hasn’t died. Chuskit's resilience and doggedness
inspires her friends and family as they help her get to school in this
beautiful and spiritually uplifting, poetic tale.
!"#$%&!'(#)*+*
Chuskit is the story of a mischievous 6 yr-old girl
living in a remote village in the mountains of Ladakh,
India. Chuskit and her two bright-eyed best friends
live an idyllic life and can't wait to be old enough to
go to school the next year.
On their way to the capital city of Leh during
winter, Chuskit’s family treks through a treacherous
mountain pass to get to a motorable road. A playful
moment on the edge of a sheer drop turns disas-
trous. Chuskit falls down and becomes paraplegic.
In a brief moment, Chuskit’s life changes drastically.
She can no longer walk and becomes dependent on
her family for many routine tasks. And the rugged
terrain of the landscape around her makes things
more challenging…she now cannot cross a little
stream to go to the only school in her village.
As practicing Buddhists, the elders in the family
accept Chuskit’s situation and try to deal with it with
equanimity. They engulf Chuskit with love while
trying to teach her to accept her new reality. But
little Chuskit yearns to go to school with her friends.
The twists and turns Chuskit's life takes ! some
comic and some heartrending ! and how she man-
ages to eventually make it to school forms the rest
of the story.
Chuskit’s resilience inspires her family to
introspect about fate and how to navigate through
a di"cult phase and emerge victorious. It’s a charm-
ing, touching and heart-warming story that has been
inspired by true-life events.
Chuskit is a bubbly 6 yr-old living in a loving
family within a close-knit Buddhist community in an
idyllic village among snow-capped mountains in
Ladakh, India.
She and her two bright-eyed best friends are
inseparable. Like her bright older brother, Stobdan,
Chuskit longs to go to school and become a good
student. Things are looking bright for the family as
Chuskit’s father, Sonam, is about to become a senior
trekking guide and Tsering, the mother, is going to
get more orders for apricot jam from the local
co-opertative. Chuskit’s grandfather, Memeley,
leads a life of self-imposed austerity and feels
nostalgic about the olden days where family and
culture took precedence over career and ambition.
He always is the counterpoint in this enthusiastic
can-do family.
Sonam, being an indulgent father, decides to
take Chuskit and Stobdan to the capital city of Leh.
But a landslide forces them to trek through a remote
mountain pass to get to an accessible road. While
playing on the edge of a precipice Chuskit loses her
footing. Before anyone can react she falls and hurts
her lower spine making it impossible for her to ever
walk again.
Six months after her accident, Chuskit watches
her friends go to school. She is utterly despondent.
The rocky, steep terrain and a brook, which the kids
have to cross to get to the only school in the village,
make it impossible for her to get to school.
Chuskit’s brother and her friends rally around
her as much as they can. Her brother, naïve but
spirited, is always a positive spark for her. Her
friends include her in all their games and take
special care to make her feel part of the old gang.
Chuskit oscillates between desolation and moments
of joy in a way that only children can.
But for the adults Chuskit’s condition takes a heavy
toll. Her father has to leave the family for long
periods of time because of his responsibilities as
a trek leader. His inability to stay with his family
coupled with his guilt at having taken Chuskit on the
fatal trip weighs heavily on his mind. Tsering tries to
carry Chuskit wherever she can, but this makes her
already bad back worse. Memeley tries to teach
Chuskit to accept her fate but Chuskit’s hope to go
to school and to eventually become a writer doesn’t
die down.
To cheer her up and to give her some sense of
freedom, her uncle, who lives in the city, gets her
a wheelchair. The kids are fascinated with this new
toy. Chuskit convinces her friends that the wheel-
chair could be used to get her to school. But the
terrain being rugged, steep and uneven, the wheel-
chair gets damaged. Memeley, who feels that
accepting her circumstances instead of challenging
them will lead to a more peaceful life, grounds
Chuskit.
With Sonam away most of the month and
Tsering’s back getting worse, Chuskit is relegated to
a window in the living room through which she sees
the world passing by.
,#(-&!'(#)*+*
When a new teacher arrives at the village, he finds
a fan following in the kids at school because of his
open and unconventional ways. Chuskit’s brother
regales her with stories about the new teacher and
how interesting his classes are. This increases
Chuskit’s desire to leave the confines of the living
room and get to school.
One day, Chuskit and her friends decide that
using the neighbour’s horse to get Chuskit to school
would be a great idea. Unlike a wheelchair, the
horse could walk steep slopes and could also cross
the stream. While trying to get the reluctant horse to
cooperate, one of the kids gets kicked by it and
narrowly escapes getting badly hurt. On hearing this
Chuskit’s grandfather figures that he has to take
things into his own hands to prevent more disasters.
He requests a senior monk to advice the family.
The monk convinces the reluctant parents that
Chuskit should become a nun. That way, the monk
reasons, she could live her life in a nunnery where
other nuns would always be there to look after her.
She could also get the education she so desires.
The parents are unable to digest the idea but are
convinced by the monk’s point of view that they may
be able to look after her while they are alive, but
who would after their lifetime.
When they break the news about the nunnery
to Chuskit, she goes berserk. She cannot imagine
living without her family and her friends. Her brother
is shocked at everyone’s decision. He and Chuskit,
make a quiet resolve that she will never go.
On the morning that she is to go to the
nunnery, Chuskit along with her brother and friends
leave the village. They intend to run away to the city
where they hope to convince Chuskit’s uncle to
send her to school instead of a nunnery. But their
attempt at running away is foiled and they are
brought home by a vigilant bus driver. When Sonam
realizes how stifled Chuskit feels at not being allowed to
go to school, he announces that he will become her legs
and will carry her to school everyday and remain by her
side at school. The adults try to convince him it’s an
impractical plan but he is adamant that he cannot let his
daughter’s zest for life die.
He goes to the city to resign from his job. Over there, his
brother convinces him that moving to the city would be a
better option because he could keep his job and the city
would be more accessible for a child with disability.
Chuskit is rejoicing that she will finally get to go to
school but is also upset that her dad has to give up the
job he loves. She sees a model bridge her brother is
making for a science competition and has a brain wave.
Roping in her brother and her friends, she meets the new
teacher to ask for his help.
As Sonam and his brother are coming back by bus,
they see the entire village gathered by the stream. Based
on Stobdan’s model they have built a bridge with willow
branches to pave the path to school. The grandfather, with
his knowledge of traditional bridges, helps the villagers
reinforce and strengthen the bridge.
Once the bridge is done, Sonam o#ers the grandfa-
ther the chance to push Chuskit across the bridge for the
first time. He accepts and wheels her to the top, where
they come in full view of the school. The whole village
walks towards the school bound together by a palpable
sense of hope and aspiration.
!"#$%&%'(&)*+(,%#+
Priya Ramasubban is a reputed filmmaker who has
! for more than a decade and a half ! made films for
National Geographic, Discovery, History Channel and
other major international broadcasters.
She is a storyteller at heart and has the ability
to deal with complex subjects in a nuanced way
allowing for textured interpretation of the subject.
Her strong visual sense, evocative style and flair for
highlighting local subcultures have been strong
points that have kept production companies and
broadcasters coming back to her again and again
with o"ers of work.
Her ability to get reticent contributors to open
up in front of the camera, her sensitive portrayal of
her subjects and her talent at breaking down compli-
cated ideas into easily digestible bits of information
has evoked admiration and praise among her peers
and her audiences. Though her core strength lies in
telling complicated stories in simple yet fascinating
ways, the experts whom she films with have always
praised her for never diluting or over simplifying the
issues at hand. She has a strong reputation for being
participatory in her approach towards filmmaking,
always encouraging and eliciting the best from her
crew and her cast.
Having worked for several international
broadcasters she has developed a keen sense of
understanding about audiences in the East and the
West and seamlessly straddles the two spheres to
make enriching films that are appealing and enter-
taining to people regardless of where they are on
the planet.
While she has never made a feature film,
her approach to this film builds on her strong docu-
mentary experience. She allows her actors the room
to express themselves; uses the epic quality of the
location to add to the story and draws out the
cultural subtext to highlight the complexity of the
struggle the characters face.
“Every time I’ve worked with Priya, I’ve been struck by what a gifted storyteller she is.!
She has the wisdom of an old soul and the generosity to match.!Priya is absolutely the
perfect person to be telling this inspiring tale.”
Eleanor Grant
Emmy Award Winning Former VP - Development
National Geographic Television
“Priya Ramasubban is that rarest of filmmakers: !a visually authentic storyteller whose fierce realism is guided by!her undeviating moral
compass!and limitless compassion.”
Jason Williams
Multiple Emmy Award Winner
President, JWM Productions
“Priya Ramasubban is a highly principled and dedicated filmmaker. Her work reflects a deep commitment to making the world
a better place.”
Allison Argo
Winner of over 100 International Film Awards
Founder, Argo Films
When I travelled to Ladakh for a shoot for National
Geographic, I was mesmerised by the incredible
beauty of the land. Intrigued by the spirit of the
people there, I decided I’d go back some day to
make another film. On what subject, I wasn’t sure.
Serendipitously, my sister Vidhya Ramasubban,
moved to Ladakh for a job a year after my shoot.
She stayed on for a decade, working on issues
relating to the di"erently-abled. Her friend and
author Sujatha Padmanabhan, wrote a children’s
book ‘Chuskit Goes To School'! based on Vidhya’s
e"orts to get one disabled girl to school. When I
read the book, I knew this was the story that would
take me back to Ladakh.
With my experience in non-fiction story telling,
I wanted to make a documentary, but Vidhya was
insistent that this should not be about her but about
the children she has worked with. As I gathered
anecdotes from Vidhya’s work, I realized that she
was right and that a feature film was the only way
to tell a story that will capture the timeless themes
of struggle and triumph; of loss of innocence and
coming of age; of frailty and strength, while keeping
the film in the present.
I travelled to Ladakh to do research for the
film and found that I fell deeper and deeper in love
with the place, the people and the endearing and
empowering story we were attempting to tell.
With this film, I hope that this little-known part
of India — !set deep within the mountains of the
Himalayas — will charm people around the world
as it charmed me. Just as I have been touched by
the infectious beauty, the generous spirit of the
people and the encompassing love they show
towards one another in that region, I intend to make
this film a touching account of the power of possibili-
ties and o"er a glimmer of something positive at
a time when most stories we come across are of
pain and su"ering and without hope.
!"#$%&'#()*"+&$+&
./'&0$/1
This film is close to Priya’s heart because her sister, Vidhya Ramasubban, has dedicated many years
of her life to working on issues relating to the di#erently-abled in the remote regions of Ladakh. Vidhya’s
work has inspired author, Sujatha Padmanahan to write a children’s book titled “Chuskit Goes to school”.
Sujatha, Vidhya and Priya compiled anecdotes from Vidhya’s work in Ladakh and wrote a narrative that
Priya then turned into a screenplay.
Priya Sreedharan, a well-known independent producer in Mumbai, India, is already attached to the project.
She was the executive producer on her first film "Oye Lucky", released in 2008. Her second film "LSD" made
for 200,000 US dollars was the first commercially successful, breakthrough, digital film in India. She was also
producer of "Shanghai" a political thriller based on the polemic novel Z, by Vassilis Vassilikos, released in 2012.
Her passion for new Indian cinema was the driving force behind putting this project together. She has shot
extensively in Ladakh and like the other key players is fascinated by the culture and the people in Ladakh.
23(4+(-
In order to shoot part of the film and the trailer the
team crowd sourced the money through Kickstarter.
The project got a phenomenal response and man-
aged to raise 98,499 US dollars. The first schedule
was completed in the winter of 2013. The rest of film,
which is set in the summer, is yet to be shot.
The estimated budget of the film is 800,000
US dollars. This includes the entire cost of produc-
tion with the taxes applicable to shoot in India. As
travel and shooting conditions in Ladakh, a remote
region in the Himalayas, takes up a huge chunk of
the production cost, the team plans to minimize this
by keeping the crew overheads lean but e"cient.
The makers also have production deals and a lot of
goodwill from vendors to reduce the budget further,
while ensuring quality at production.
The filmmakers aim to raise part of the budget
through studios/ private investors in India. The rest
of the funding will be raised in collaboration with
international partners.
0#(%56%
Priya Ramasubban
+1-202-244-3636, +91-9742343487
Priya Sreedharan
+91-9820139063
