Tungrus is a short documentary that observes a week in the peculiar lives of a middle-class household in Mumbai, which turns topsy-turvy when the eccentric patriarch brings home a baby chick for his cats to play with.
What follows is an alternatingly absurd, nerve-jangling and heart-warming set of accounts about the latest addition, from each member of the family. The once adorable chick has survived his early days and grown into a tyrant, wilful bird – forever taking up too much of their space and generally making life in the apartment unlivable.
The film follows the thoughts of each person to their inevitable conclusion – the rooster’s got to go. And as his fate hangs in the balance, the family debates the question that lingers in the air: should he be given the gift of life, or served for dinner?
Rishi Chandna is an independent filmmaker based out of Mumbai and Tungrus is his first independent short film.
Tungrus has earned him tremendous success by traveling to more than 95 film festivals, picking up several accolades, and is now an Oscar qualifying short documentary. In December 2018, Rishi was awarded Best Director Non-Fiction at the first ever CCSFA (Critics Choice Short Film Awards), put together by the Film Critics Guild, India. In February 2019 he was featured as the first filmmaker to be interviewed by renowned film critic Anupama Chopra, as a part of Film Companion’s Artist To Watch For, a series that introduces viewers to the rising stars of the film industry.
Along with reviews of Tungrus, his interviews have appeared in top publications in India and abroad such as New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The Hindu, Indian Express, Scroll, Film Companion and more. As a director and producer, Rishi has played a key role in getting Tungrus seen worldwide, by licensing it to major platforms such as New York Times Op-Docs, Atlantic Selects, Amazon Prime, Criterion FilmStruck, RTL and Aeon Magazine. Rishi is now developing the screenplay for his first feature length fiction film.