{"id":796115,"date":"2026-07-12T20:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T20:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/796115\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T20:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T20:06:10","slug":"pune-filmmakers-award-winning-short-film-celebrates-a-forest-guides-triumph-over-adversity-pune-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/796115\/","title":{"rendered":"Pune filmmaker\u2019s award-winning short film celebrates a forest guide\u2019s triumph over adversity | Pune News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PuneA still from Pune-based filmmaker Sandeep Sinha\u2019s short film \u2018& That Fifth Toy\u2019 Pune: City-based artist, wildlife photographer and conservationist Sandeep Sinha\u2019s internationally acclaimed first short film film \u2018& That Fifth Toy\u2019 has picked up awards and official selections across India, the US, Canada and Europe. It is an attempt to bring an overlooked story of a courageous woman into public view.Sinha has travelled through India\u2019s tiger reserves documenting wildlife for years. However, it was not a tiger, but a woman whose story left an entire room in tears that inspired his film. The filmmaker also holds a Guinness World Records title for the world\u2019s largest professional oil painting by a single artist, created in honour of women survivors of acid attacks.\u201cI run a podcast where I record the stories of wildlife guides and drivers from tiger reserves in India. During a women guides\u2019 session at Satpura Tiger Reserve, Vimla Kahar began speaking about her life. The entire room fell silent. People had tears in their eyes. That was the moment I knew the world needed to hear her story,\u201d he said.The film follows Kahar, who grew up in a village near Satpura Tiger Reserve. She was bright and ambitious, but married off as a child to an alcoholic man. She endured domestic abuse and saw one dream after another slip away. Yet she rebuilt her life to become a respected wildlife guide.\u201cThe five toys in the film represent Kahar\u2019s five dreams. Every time society, family pressure or circumstances crush one of her dreams, a toy breaks. The fifth dream is her identity. Even after that appears lost, her young daughter gives it back through a handmade clay medal that says World\u2019s Best Guide, Ma. That is the fifth toy she gets to keep, and where the film finds hope,\u201d he said.Sinha believes wildlife guides remain among the least recognised contributors to conservation. \u201cPeople think guides only show tourists animals. In reality, they are the eyes and ears of the forest. They notice when an animal is injured, report unusual behaviour to forest officials and help protect entire ecosystems,\u201d he said.He said tourists often misunderstand the role. \u201cMany expect guides to magically make tigers or other animals appear on the safari. Wildlife does not work like that. You are entering the animals\u2019 home, not a zoo. Visitors shout, litter, demand selfies and forget that the jungle has its own rules that they must respect and abide by,\u201d said Sinha.An IT professional and professor of data science, Sinha spent one and half years to make the film, which was completed this March. It has since won awards at the Los Angeles Film Awards, Mysuru International Film Festival, Indian Panorama International Film Festival and Niagara Canada International Film Festival. It also earned official selections at festivals in Los Angeles, California, London and Berlin.Despite its growing international recognition, Sinha said the film\u2019s most meaningful screening is yet to come. \u201cBefore anywhere else, I want the film to be shown at Satpura Tiger Reserve. The story belongs to the guides who inspired it. We are in the process of organising a screening there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A still from Pune-based filmmaker Sandeep Sinha\u2019s short film \u2018& That Fifth Toy\u2019 Pune: City-based artist, wildlife photographer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":796116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[374234,374247,374246,374245,374233,64,63,374238,79354,485,2065,374244,2929,118982,374243,374251,134,2057,374241,39171,22059,374237,374254,374239,2022,481,374252,344,374253,374255,374256,3755,105452,38475,189859,374250,374232,374236,167622,374235,374242,374249,30351,374240,374248],"class_list":["post-796115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-that-fifth-toy","tag-acid-attack-survivors","tag-adversity","tag-alcoholic-husband","tag-anjali-jhangiani","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-award-winning-short-film","tag-berlin","tag-california","tag-canada","tag-child-marriage","tag-conservation","tag-conservationist","tag-domestic-abuse-survivor","tag-ecosystem-protection","tag-entertainment","tag-europe","tag-forest-guide","tag-forest-officials","tag-guinness-world-records","tag-india-tiger-reserves","tag-indian-panorama-international-film-festival","tag-internationally-acclaimed-short-film","tag-london","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-film-awards","tag-movies","tag-mysuru-international-film-festival","tag-niagara-canada-international-film-festival","tag-official-selections","tag-podcast","tag-pune","tag-resilience","tag-responsible-tourism","tag-safari-tourism","tag-sandeep-sinha","tag-satpura-tiger-reserve","tag-short-film","tag-vimla-kahar","tag-wildlife-guide","tag-wildlife-guides-and-drivers","tag-wildlife-photography","tag-women-wildlife-guides","tag-worlds-largest-professional-oil-painting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}