Falak Khan on ‘Champaran Mutton’ entering Semi Finals in Oscar’s SAA

Falak khan, who hails from a small town of Bihar, has been creating quite a buzz with her film ‘Champaran Mutton’. The film has made it to the semi-finals of the Student Academy Awards 2023, a part of the Oscars.
Falak has had an inclination towards arts & culture right from her childhood. Being the child of academic heads, it didn’t come as a surprise that Falak earned her engineering degree from Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology. She says, “My parents told me that at the age of 2.5 years, I had performed ‘Desh Ki Dharti’ on stage. So I had this inclination towards performing arts from my toddler days. I guess I was born with it. I am destined to be in Mumbai.”

Falak came to Mumbai in 2016 for pursuing MBA. She says, “We all know Mumbai is the hub of entertainment so you have to come here to try things. I didn’t know anyone from the industry, not even a relative in Mumbai. I used to search online to find out where the auditions are happening. During the first 6 months, I got a DD National show but it didn’t take off. Then I started doing episodic work and have even worked for free because I wanted a few ticks in my resume. Initially the struggle was to get work. I had received immense financial as well as emotional support from my family. Indeed I was lucky to have sustained in Mumbai. I chose not to do roles which I was not comfortable. Acting is my passion and I will always work from heart and not just for money.”

The director of ‘Champaran Mutton’, Ranjan Kumar is a senior of Falak at her engineering college. Falak says, “Though we are from the same college but we never met at the campus. But later on we got in touch as we both were in Mumbai. Champaran Mutton is Rajan Sir’s diploma film. Earlier, he had directed a dialogue-based film ‘Saray’. I was a part of that film and my performance had been compared to late legendary actress, Smita Patil.”

On being asked about her role in ‘Champaran Mutton’, Falak shares, “I have played a character called Sunita who is pregnant and has a craving for mutton. My husband’s role is played by Chandan Roy. The story also throws light on the cast discrimination in Bihar. It is a heart touching story which revolves around a middle-class family and the problems they face during the lockdown. Starting from the way of shooting to sound design, camera angle, the way this film has been shot is excellent. We are very happy that our film has gone to the semi-finals of the Student Academy Awards 2023, a segment of the Oscars renowned for recognizing emerging talent.”

To conclude, Falak says, “My aim is to be known as a good actress – it is not about doing a big brand film for the sake of it. I am sure if I am good, bigger producers will also approach me for work. I have got immense appreciation from the industry for the Oscar nomination and I cannot wait to start my new journey hereon.”