By Sonal Gera
It’s that time of year again when the air is filled with the spirit of Christmas. Lights are adorning homes and streets, and carols are echoing through the night.
There’s no better way to mark this celebration of love and light than to seek refuge in the lap of hope and joy.
A documentary, filmed by National Award winning director Kamakhya Narayan Singh and presented by TravelXP, is one such showreel that encapsulates this and hence, promises to transport viewers to the land of happiness and celebrations.
The global premiere of ‘All I Want for Christmas’, a documentary by TravelXP, was hosted at the Embassy of Finland in New Delhi on Tuesday evening, in collaboration with the embassies of Ukraine, Norway, Finland, SIFFCY and the Smile Foundation.
Set against Finland’s breathtaking snowy landscapes, the film follows Ksenia and Anastasia as they embark on an unforgettable journey to rediscover hope and the magic of Christmas — amidst the challenges and struggles of displacement due to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.
Producer Nisha Chothani, co-founder of Travelxp, shared her vision for the project. “At Travelxp, we’ve always focused on showcasing destinations, but this film emphasises the human stories behind those places,” she said.
Director Kamakhya Narayan Singh added, “I have always made stories that connect with human emotions. I look at this film with a lot empathy for the human conflict angle, rather than a movie with a political undertone.”
The director-producer duo is often considered to be one of the best in the business — they are each other’s biggest critics and the most earnest cheerleaders too.
“At least 70 per cent credit of all work that I have done goes to her [Ms Jothani],” Mr Singh said about his collaboration.
Ms Jothani said, “We have lasted for so many years for there is a connection between the two of us. Since the start, our mental and creative wavelengths have matched. He is a temperamental person, and so am I. And for two temperamental people to co-exist, I think there has to be a connection. We agree with each other, where we need to. And disagree where we need to.”
Speaking about the challenges faced by the team while filming the documentary, Mr Singh said, “The challenge was the child [actor] and the fact that they had come from a war-torn country. But we had done a lot of pre-production work. We had a plan B in place in case plan A fails.”
