Vanishing bonds: Ankur Hooda’s The Calf Doll exposes the price of progress
Ankur Hooda’s documentary 'The Calf Doll' explores the struggles of aging farmers in rural India through the lens of a banned ritual. The film critiques the impact of modernization and urban migration on traditional agricultural lifestyles.
Why it matters
It provides a cultural critique of how economic progress often comes at the cost of traditional bonds and the dignity of the rural elderly.
A haunting, fog-draped requiem for a vanishing way of life, young Ankur Hooda’s Khal Bachhda ( The Calf Doll ) allegorically critiques what is sacrificed on the altar of progress. After winning international acclaim at its world premiere at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, the independent film in Haryanvi is one of eight selected for the prestigious documentary competition at the upcoming 70th BFI London Film Festival.
Set in Dayalpur village near Faridabad, the hybrid, para-fiction drama breathes through Satbir Singh Hooda, an elderly retired teacher. When his only cow delivers a stillborn calf and stops lactating, his quiet world tears open. Desperate to stave off losses, the educated farmer is left with no choice but to descend into a forbidden rural ritual where a lifelike doll from the skin and body of the dead calf is crafted to trick the grieving mother into producing milk.
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