Chyanti is a goat on the way to be slaughtered. There’s no positive way to start this review because that’s what the short film ‘Chyanti’ depicts in its 15-minute run-time. When a man returns home during the Maoist insurgency to celebrate Dashain with his family, he takes away his daughter’s beloved goat to be sold. It sounds harsh and gruesome, bordering on apathetic when you put it like that but there are layers to this story, which traces the line between morality, love, poverty and politics.

‘Chyanti’ is a story about a family: a father and his fight against poverty, a mother and her hope for a better life, and a daughter who is simultaneously blindsided and protected by the innocence of her childhood.

‘Chyanti’ begins with a man reuniting with his family after three years during the Dashain festival. He is a Maoist, having left his family while on the run from the police. The atmosphere at home is tense; despite the festivals, there’s nothing festive in the household, as they have no money to spend on anything new. Seeing their bleak condition, the man decides to sell off the goat for the temporary emotional and monetary reprieve he hopes it will bring to the family.

Set in the cold and dark Himalayas, the movie’s tragic plot reflects the melancholia of its cinematography and colour palette, which puts all of the characters and their surroundings in dire blackness. The quaint house in the deserted land they live in is shrouded in darkness—reflecting the characters’ desolation. There are moments in the film where you have to squint to figure out what the actors are doing on screen.

However, in ‘Chyanti’, the deliberate use of bleak visuals, without taking away the lighting itself, sharpens the focus on the characters’ sufferings. Furthermore, a brief scene of paternal love, as the father carries his daughter towards the village, stands out amid all of this, adding emotional weight to this fleeting moment.

The narrative is quite simple, really. It plays out like a ‘day in the life’ situation, except there’s no pretend glamour—only the reality. Veemsen Lama, the director, employs seemingly little elements as metaphors that reflect the broader themes and message of the film.

When the man and his daughter, Sani, reach the village, he buys another goat for Dashain celebrations. This new goat, small and white, reflects their financial struggles—it’s a child, indicating the man’s inability to afford a larger one. Yet, within the broader context of the film’s themes, the small, white goat, later slaughtered by the man, symbolises the loss of Sani’s innocence. Sani, exposed for the first time to the harsh realities of humanity, is aware, to some extent, that their newly named goat, Bhunti, won’t be alive long.

Certain moments in the film deeply resonate with the hidden desires of the man and woman for a normal, happy life. In a scene cloaked in darkness, the married couple expresses romantic and sexual desires, reminiscent of another film, ‘Saanghuro’. In both, couples’ love is hindered by their inability to consummate their marriage due to cramped living conditions. Though different, they share a commonality—despite their love, poverty prevents any sense of normalcy or permanence in their shared reality.

Whether or not ‘Chyanti’ has a hopeful ending is hidden in its little details of symbolism and metaphors. A mournful song plays as the father is forced to leave their house again,

“Who knows what the wind will bring next year…

Even if the hopes are made from the castle of false dreams.”

It suggests that the poverty-free future he dreams of may remain elusive. But there’s also more to it than that. Sani, who refused to eat the meat of the goat they slaughtered, maybe a sign that the future may not be as bleak for her as it was for her family. Her refusal to partake in the consumption of an animal she loved is possibly Lama’s way of showing that she will not wash her hands in bloodshed the way her father was forced to.

Chyanti

Director: Veemsen Lama

Cast: Shyam Khadka, Babita Tamang, Sangita Tamang

Language: Nepali

Subtitles: English

Year: 2016

Available on: YouTube