Stills

चाँदी का सिक्का 

Synopsis

This is brief look at life in a red-street. Even though the language suggests its somewhere in North India, this could be anywhere. This is not about lust or bodies being sold. This is about innocence trapped in the alleys where souls are sold for silver coins. The film has an unnamed girl child, aged around two years, trying to keep to herself, as her mother sells her body. The film is about a poignant moment, where the innocent child is trapped between her instincts and the callous world around her.

Do children need to pay for sins of adults? 

Can childhood be weighed by silver coins? 

The Silver Coin, the animation short by Reji Syne explores the intricate alleys of human existence, where innocent childhoods lose direction, for no fault of theirs.

 Life, for lesser privileged children, is as fragile as an egg shell.

Behind the Scenes

Tejas Rahate as The Egg Boy

Reema Shaikh as The Kid

Dayani Meet Ashwin as The paanwaala

Seema Bajaj as Mother

Press Clipping's

Directors' Statment

This short animation feature is based on a real-life incident, which continues to haunt me – even in my wakeful hours. I met this little girl in one of the sex streets in India. It was well past midnight, and I was waiting for my friend to finish answering a call on his mobile. She could not have seen me through the dark windscreens of the car we were in. The face of the little girl, who lost the coin in the gutters and thereby her chance to buy the egg, came with me, long after we drove away. This film is not just a re-visit to a haunting memory; but an attempt to poke the carpet of silence under which we push all those unpleasant sights around us.

Treatment Given the sensitive nature of the film, it is portrayed in a highly stylised manner. The special treatment has been evolved to capture the theme poignantly, but to avoid it ruffling the finer sensibilities of the audience. Special care has also been taken in the music composition to suit this treatment.

Directors' Bios & Photos

With more than two decades of experience in the media,Reji Syne has been working on culture and entertainment with a perspective of social responsibility and commitment. He always strove for a new visual sub-text for the written word. His work was acknowledged by the stalwarts of theatre. Mr.Syne then moved on to films and television production. He was instrumental in re-defining the format of morning shows in television by breaking it free of studio floors and taking it closer to the cultural panorama of the land. He has been in the Limca books of records for the longest single shot ever made in Indian Television History. He was an entrant of Royal Commonwealth Society Vision Awards 2008. An experimental short film got selected in the Barcelona Short film Festival. Reji got the Kerala State Award for the Best Director. Currently working on Manikantan, the first full-length animation feature film in Malayalam.

Filmography

2005

The story Unknown/ Documentary/ 16 mints Won the Film Critics Award for Best Documentary and Best Director

2006

Kathakali/ Short Film/ Experimental Selected for the Barcelona Film Festival

2007

Udayamritham/ Documentary/ 155 minutes

Longest Single shot Video in non-fiction category in Indian Television History.

Won State Award for the Best Director

2008

The Last Tree/ Short Film

Entrant for the Royal Commonwealth Vision Awards 2008, UK

2008

Hymns of Love/ Documentary

Won Best Director and Best Cameraman in Kerala Film Audience Council video festival 2009

2009

Shades of Life/ Fiction/ 68 Minutes

Won Best Director, Best Actress in the Contact 2009 Video Film Festival

Won Best Director, Best Actress, Best Tele-cinema, Best screen play and Best Editor in Kerala Film Audience Council video festival 2009

3 State Awards - Best Cinematographer, Best Dubbing Artist, Second Best Actress

2010

Me/non fiction/ 5 minutes

Participated in the Pratibimb 2010, a National Level Short Film &Documentary Festival, Maharashtra and won best short film award.

Selected in the competition section of the International We Care Film Festival 2010 organized by Brother Hood in association with UNESCO and UN.

Participated in the 3rd International Video and Short film festival of Kerala 2010 in the music Video category.

Credits

Concept, Screenplay & Direction

Reji Syne

Animation Director & Visualiser

Abhilash

Producer
Mochitha

Dialogues

Voice Casting & Associate Director

Brijesh Singh

VOICE ACTING

Sania Bajaj as Mother

Tejas Rahate as The Egg Boy

Dayani Meet Ashwin as The Panwaala

Reem Shaikh as The Kid

Pre-production research team
Anoop Sasidharan
Rajesh Damodar
Shiji
Rajesh Thankachan
Deepak

Compositing & Special effects
Subin

Post Production

Aju Krishnan

Coordinator

Bhagyanath

Music
Ramesh Narayan

Sound recordist

Amol Gupte

Sound Effects

Kannan

Sound Studio

Empire Studio, Mumbai

Mixing

Sam Santhosh