Innocence vs Violence: ‘The School Bag’ Touches a Raw Nerve

Based on a real tragedy, the award-winning short film, starring Rasika Dugal, is as sensitive as it is aesthetic.

Rasika Dugal in a still from School Bag. (Photo Courtesy: YouTube Screengrab/LargeShortFilms)

Directed by Dheeraj Jindal, The School Bag, starring Rasika Dugal and child actor Sartaaj Rk, is based on the gruesome terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014. The short film has won 22 awards already including Rasika’s Best Actress Award at the Haryana International Short Film Festival. The film has also won Best Child Actor, Second Best Film at Bengal International Short Film Festival and Best story at GIIFFA.

Watch the film here:

The School Bag revolves around a little boy’s wish for a new school bag on the eve of his birthday. Set against the gruesome terrorist attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School three years back that claimed the lives 132 children, the short film brings alive the senselessness of terrorist attacks and how they destroy innocent lives.

The film is as sensitive as it is aesthetic. A special mention must be made of the attention to details, including the use of Peshawar’s regional dialect.