Tokri (The Basket) is a beautifully crafted 15-minute claymation short that took India-based Studio Eeksaurus eight years to complete. Give it a watch, you'll see that it was worth the effort. It certainly has earned every single one of the numerous awards it's won.
The story was inspired by a real-life encounter Eeksaurus' Suresh Eriyat had:
Traversing the crowded streets of Mumbai in his car, animator Suresh Eriyat was approached by a young girl selling baskets. Eriyat shooed her away—it is assumed by most that the hordes of children who pounce upon motorists at the stoplights of the city are organized by gangs, thus any charity exhibited directly rewards the practice of putting children to work as beggars. Yet, despite the unremarkable nature of this occurrence, Eriyat was struck by guilt. Describing the thoughts that circled his mind, he writes, “What if she was in a precarious situation where she had to sell baskets to bring peace to her home? What if she needed some help from Me? How insensitive of me?” The premise of a story was born, one that would take 8 years to bring to completion.
Get a feel for what it took to bring this film to the world in these behind-the-scenes videos:
