Md Rifat at 12:05, 3 March 2026

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{{short description|2004 Indian Hindi film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Kaya Taran
| image =
| caption =
| director = [[Sashi Kumar]]
| screenplay = Sashi Kumar
| story = [[N.S. Madhavan]]
| producer = Sashi Kumar
| starring = {{Unbulleted_list|[[Angad Bedi]]|[[Seema Biswas]]|Neelambari Bhattacharya|Neeta Mohindra}}
| cinematography = Ashwini Kaul
| editing = [[A. Sreekar Prasad]]
| music = [[Isaac Thomas Kottukapally]]
| studio =
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|2004|12|04|df=yes}}
| runtime = 107 minutes
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Hindi]]
}}

'''''Kaya Taran''''' ([[English language|English]] title: ''Chrysalis'') is a [[List of Bollywood films of 2004|2004]] Indian [[Bollywood|Hindi]]-language film directed by [[Sashi Kumar]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Daniel |date=2011-06-24 |title=Beyond Bollywood: India's gritty independent cinema |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/beyond-bollywood-india-s-gritty-independent-cinema-1.1114790 |website=CBC News}}</ref> with [[Angad Bedi]], [[Seema Biswas]], Neelambari Bhattacharya and Neeta Mohindra in the lead roles.

The film, based on the [[Malayalam]] short story ''[[When Big Tree Falls]]'' by [[N. S. Madhavan]], is set against the backdrop of [[2002 Gujarat riots]] against Muslims and [[1984 anti-Sikh riots]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/08/23/stories/2004082302930400.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040927144303/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/08/23/stories/2004082302930400.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 September 2004|title=When the big tree fell|date=23 August 2004|work=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=21 July 2015}}</ref>

The film won the ''[[Aravindan Puraskaram]]'', given to the best debut film-maker, for 2004, for its "deft handling of a theme of contemporary relevance through sensitive imageries, carefully orchestrated sound design and finely etched characters."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2005/02/25/stories/2005022502842000.htm|title=Aravindan Prize for 'Kaya Taran'|date=25 February 2005|work=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=21 July 2015}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Two prominent journalists who covered the '84 riots, Rahul Bedi and Joseph Maliakan, played themselves in the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.santabanta.com/bollywood/5061/bishen-singh-bedis-son-angad-to-debut-with-kaya-taran/|title=Bishen Singh Bedi's son Angad to debut with 'Kaya Taran'|publisher=santabanta.com|date=31 January 2005|accessdate=21 July 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924094208/http://www.santabanta.com/bollywood/5061/bishen-singh-bedis-son-angad-to-debut-with-kaya-taran/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Well-known dancer and choreographer [[Chandralekha (dancer)|Chandralekha]] choreographed a dance-sequence in the film performed among others by the noted [[Bharatanatyam]] dancer [[Navtej Johar]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kayataran.com/behindscenes/chandralekha.htm|title=Chandralekha-Choreography|publisher=Kayataran.com|accessdate=21 July 2015|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305070947/http://www.kayataran.com/behindscenes/chandralekha.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Plot==
Preet is a shy young journalist visiting a convent for aged nuns in Meerut to write a story about conversions. His meeting with Sister Agatha, a Malayalee nun who manages the convent, rekindles the memories of an incident that took place in the convent way back in 1984, taking the narrative in the flashback. A young Sikh woman, Amarjeet Kaur, along with her 8-year-old son Jaggi, escaping from marauding rioters, seeks refuge in the convent. The nuns give them a place to hide, making the mother wear nun's robes and cutting the boy's long hair to conceal their identities. The young boy gradually settles in and becomes part of the convent life, giving the nuns something to look forward to in their staid daily routine. The nuns refuse to give in to constant threats from the pursuers plotting Amarjeet's and Jaggi's escape. The plot moves to and for in time to reveal how Preet makes peace with his troubled past while reclaiming the outward symbol of his identity. The film concludes by showing Preet wearing a turban.<ref name=Indiatimes>{{cite web|url=http://info.indiatimes.com/1984/5.html|title=Exorcising Ghosts of the Past|publisher=Indiatimes|accessdate=21 July 2015|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115091456/http://www1.info.indiatimes.com/1984/5.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chaosmag.in/sashikumar.html|title=Kaya Taran|publisher=Chaosmag|accessdate=21 July 2015|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202255/http://www.chaosmag.in/sashikumar.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Cast==
* [[Seema Biswas]] as Sister Agatha
* [[Angad Bedi]] as Preet
* Neelambari Bhattacharya as Jaggi
* Neeta Mohindra as Amarjeet, Jaggi's mother
* Soman Nambiar as Father Thomas <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/aug292004/ac1.asp |title=Donning the role of a director - Deccan Herald |access-date=24 January 2017 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202011503/http://archive.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/aug292004/ac1.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Bhanu Rao
* Vani Subbanna
* Poonam Vasudev
* Joy Michael
* Lakshmi Fenn
* Rhava
* Stephanie Pollock
* Kalindhi Deshpande
* Kitty Menon

==Reception==
Praising Sashi Kumar's subtle handling, Soumya Menon wrote in ''India Times'', "Instead of the high-pitched Hindu-Muslim divide, he decided to stage the dilemmas of conversion on the reverberations that followed in the wake of massacre of the Sikh community. Nor did he draw on the horror and gore of the riots or the Khalistan movement to add spice. Sashi instead introspects into the epistemology of communal conversions and questions the relevance of the very religious identity that sparks such anger and outrage."<ref name=Indiatimes/>

Nirupama Dutt writing in ''The Tribune'' called it "poetic translation on celluloid of N.S. Madhavan’s story."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040725/spectrum/main5.htm|title=Love in the times of riots|date=25 July 2004|work=The Tribune|accessdate=21 July 2015}}</ref>

"The techno-magical potential of cinema gets full play in ''Kaya Taran''," wrote Sadanand Menon reviewing the film in ''The Hindu'', while praising it for striking "a fine balance between menace and tenderness".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/16/stories/2004071602492000.htm|title=Big trees, little shoots |date=16 July 2004|work=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=21 July 2015}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Amit Sengupta writing in ''Tehelka'' called it a "surrealist film" praising "nuanced performance" by Seema Biswas, Angad Bedi, Neelambari Bhattacharya and the women in the old women’s home. "Even those who are speechless, excel in their silence," he wrote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main6.asp?filename=hub090404memory_of.asp|title=Memory of fear revisited|date=4 September 2004|publisher=Tehelka|accessdate=21 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122617/http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main6.asp?filename=hub090404memory_of.asp|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0470399}}
* [http://www.kayataran.com/ Official Web site of ''Kaya Taran'']*

[[Category:2004 Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:2004 films]]
[[Category:Indian political films]]
[[Category:Films based on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots]]

Kaya Taran - Revision history

Md Rifat at 12:05, 3 March 2026