Chabiwali Pocket Watch

2006

28min

Urdu, the Hindustani language whose words resonate music, is fast dying. So is Babba, an old Urdu poet who is dying an unknown death. Having shut his eyes to the callous world that weighs art with money, he has woven a charming little world of his own. Babba's state of nonchalant bliss inadvertently drives his daughter Minni into a world of bitter silences. And, across the road lives Pappan, a small-time debt-ridden publisher who is eyeing Babba's treasured verses and his beautiful daughter. A self-indulgent, romantic old man, a stoic but essentially soft-hearted daughter and an opportunist but naive publisher. Amidst all this, Babba, Minni and Pappan struggle to keep their culture alive, their ethos alive, their language alive, their love alive ... in vain ...