Nakul Singh Sawhney has set up a people’s film and media collective in rural North India called ChalChitra Abhiyaan (CCA) that is led by marginalized communities and powered by the voice of the grassroots.

CCA has created a groundswell of storytellers, news reporters, and media makers from among the youth, farmers, and women of Dalit and religious minority communities. Trained by world-class journalists and filmmakers, they tell their stories, in their voices, through video. Their videos are screened across 20 villages and viewed on social media channels by 67,000 subscribers. Over seven years, the diverse, plural, and representative stories of CCA are beginning to counter the singular narrative of the local media.

CCA is also building public libraries and organizing film screenings on various socio-political issues across multiple villages and towns. In the long term, Nakul seeks to galvanize community-led film and cultural collectives.