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Still from The Calf DollTrailer · 1:59

Feature Documentaries · Filmmaker Q&A · South Asia Premiere

The Calf Doll Khaal Bachhda

Directed by Ankur Hooda

Screening at DIFF 2026

Thu29 to Thursday 29 Oct · PictureTime 2
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Runtime
91 min
Year
2026
Country
India
Language
Haryanvi
Subtitles
English
Premiere
South Asia

Synopsis

In a smog-choked village, a retired professor faces a dilemma when his cow delivers a stillborn calf. Abandoned by his farmhand for a job in the industrial town, he reluctantly turns to the forbidden ritual of crafting a life-like calf doll from the stillborn’s body, despite his wife’s warnings. Together, they struggle between tradition and change as the quiet rhythms of rural life collapse around them slowly under the inevitable weight of modernization.

Director

Ankur Hooda Ankur HoodaAnkur Hooda is a 25-year-old self-taught filmmaker, writer and producer. After spending his formative years in a small village in Haryana, he went on to study Advertising in Mumbai while interacting with the filmmaking medium parallelly. He is primarily interested in humanist themes, spatial identities, and the…

Cast and crew

Producer
Ankur Hooda, Ayushi Gupta, Anish Sarai, Achal Mishra
Writer
Ankur Hooda
Cinematographer
Anish Sarai
Editor
Ankur Hooda
Sound
Himang Pali, Bigyna Dahal
Music
Madhav Agarwal, Vishesh Kalimero
Cast
Mst. Satbir Singh Hooda, Chameli Devi, Dheeraj Kumar, Mukesh Bhati

Festivals and awards

  • BFI London Film Festival 2026
  • CPH:DOX 2026
  • International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2026
  • El Gouna Film Festival 2026
  • Jeonju International Film Festival 2026

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