top of page
Ojhal
Cloaked in Red Dust
India is one of the world's biggest producers of hand-moulded bricks, relying on millions of migrant workers. Most of them remain unseen. As the industry faces intense pressure to reduce emissions, these workers must not be forgotten.
Ojhal: Cloaked in Red Dust, is an experimental immersive documentary produced by Purpose and directed by Sharbendu De, that redefines storytelling by putting the camera directly into workers' hands, turning them into the primary cinematographers of their own lives. Filmed largely through their own lenses, on their own terms, the result is a raw, sensory world of intense heat, quiet strength, and unguarded moments no outside crew could have captured, paired with immersive field audio that pulls audiences inside the rhythm of kiln life rather than watching it from a distance.
Credits
Director
Creative Producer
Editor
Assistant Editor
Cinematographer
Location Sound
Field Producer
Asst. Field Producer & Partnerships
Concept
Thematic Advisor
Purpose Project Team:
Translations and Subtitles:
Field Support:
Transportation:
Equipment:
Sharbendu De
Panisthi Vora
Shashwati Talukdar
Aseem Achintya
Vikram Chowdhary
Lohit Bhalla
Alok Ranjan
Mahajan Ali
Harpreet Bhullar and Sharbendu De
Harpreet Bhullar
Lavrez Chaudhary, Alok Ranjan, Panisthi Vora, Vaishno Bharati Radhakrishnan, Shraddha Zende, Malvika, Gayatri Bhatia, Swapnil Pandey, Nitish Dorle, Mandira Kalra Kalaan
Swapnil Pandey, Panisthi Vora, Alok Ranjan
Abhay Kumar, Khushboo, Manjit Prajapati, Resham Gautam
Chandrakant Yadav, Prince Kumar, Rajesh Yadav, Siddharth Rai
Red Media Production, New Delhi
In-Community Camera Team
Children & Young Adults
Adults from the Community
Akash Kumar, Anjali, Anshu, Anushka Kumari, Ayush, Baby, Choti, Golu, Kaartik, Kajal, Khushboo, Laxmi, Monika, Neha Kumari, Nisha, Nisha, Om Gautam, Priyanshu, Rohit, Sarita, Shivam, Shivani, Soni, Suraj, Sushila, Vishal
Anita Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Anil Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Anil(Jharkhand), Anjali, Arjun Manjhi (Bihar), Arjun Vishwakarma (Jharkhand), Ashok Vishwakarma (Uttar Pradesh), Baby Devi (Bihar), Baby Devi (Jharkhand), Baby Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Babita Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Bablu Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Bablu Vishwakarma (Jharkhand), Badal, Bajo Devi (Jharkhand), Basanti Urao (Jharkhand), Bheema Manjhi (Bihar), Bhumika Kumari (Jharkhand), Bhuttan, Bishu Ram (Jharkhand), Chandani, Chandani Vishwakarma (Jharkhand), Charmuni Devi (Bihar), Chotu, Dharshi Urao (Jharkhand), Dhanno (Bihar), Fakir Chand (Jharkhand), Fiddi Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Firoz Ali (Uttar Pradesh), Gayani Manjhi (Bihar), Ghanshyam (Uttar Pradesh), Girani Manjhi (Bihar), Guddu Manjhi (Bihar), Indru Manjhi (Bihar), Jalo Gautam (Uttar Pradesh), Jhilangu Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Kamala Devi (Bihar), Kaliya Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Karamchand Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Karmi Devi (Jharkhand), Kartik, Lakhan Manjhi (Bihar), Lalchand Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Laxman, Mahant Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Mahavir Gautam (Uttar Pradesh), Manzila Devi (Jharkhand), Meena Devi (Bihar), Megha Kumari (Bihar), Munni Devi (Jharkhand), Nagina Devi, Nandu Yadav (Uttar Pradesh), Nanki Vishwakarma (Uttar Pradesh), Panna Lal (Jharkhand), Pandru Pujur (Jharkhand), Paaro Devi (Bihar), Pawan Kumar (Bihar), Pooja Urao (Jharkhnad), Pramod Mishra (Uttar Pradesh), Pratima, Raghu, Rahul, Rajendra Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Rajiv Yadav (Uttar Pradesh), Rajmuni Devi (Uttar Pradesh), Raja Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Raju Banvasi (Jharkhand), Raju Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh) Rakesh (Uttar Pradesh), Ramprashad Gautam (Uttar Pradesh), Ramsagar (Uttar Pradesh), Ramesh (Uttar Pradesh), Ramesh Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Ramesh Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Rekha, Sanjay, Sanjay Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Sanju Manjhi (Bihar), Satish Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Sharmani, Shivbalak (Uttar Pradesh), Shyam Rai (Uttar Pradesh), Sita Urao (Jharkhand), Soni Vishwakarma (Jharkhand), Sonu Kumar (Jharkhand), Sonu Urao (Jharkhand), Subhash Banvasi (Jharkhand), Sulekha Devi (Bihar), Sunil Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Surendra Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Surendra Kumar, Tara Chawhan (Uttar Pradesh), Tewari Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Thatheri Banvasi (Uttar Pradesh), Udai, Upendra Manjhi (Bihar), Usha Vishwakarma (Uttar Pradesh), Vikash Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Vimla Devi (Bihar), Vinod Bhuiyan (Jharkhand), Vinod Kumar (Jharkhand), Vinod Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Virendra Yadav (Uttar Pradesh)
Acknowledgements
Our profound gratitude to the community members across the brick kilns of Uttar Pradesh for trusting us with their stories and collaborating in this participatory filmmaking process. By filming your own lives and experiences, you transformed this film into a collective act of storytelling. Your presence and shared authorship remain at the heart of this work.
We remain sincerely grateful to the brick kiln owners who generously granted us access and allowed us to film at their kilns: Dr. Mahvir Yadav, Sawatantra Singh, and Virendra Yadav.
Special thanks to Mahajan Ali (Social Development and Research Association, Jaunpur, UP) for field support, and to our partners Chambal Media, The Climate Agenda, Center for Environment and Communication and all members of the Buniyaad Multistakeholder Platform for their invaluable inputs and continued support.
Making of the film
bottom of page