From Sonagachi to SoHo

Tisch sophomore Avijit Halder knows from direct experience the effect the arts can have on a life; because of his appearance in the 2004 film "Born into Brothels," Halder quite literally realized his dreams of getting an education in filmmaking.

Halder was born into a family of alcohol-dealers in Sonagachi, a red-light district in Calcutta, India. While other kids his age were discovering Pokémon and Cartoon Network, he was "chasing people who didn't pay, and sometimes it got violent," he said. "It forced me to mature very early, and in that sense, I appreciate it."

In 1995, when Halder was 6-years-old, British photographer Zana Briski visited Calcutta's brothels to depict the lives of women there. Realizing that the women were preoccupied with their own battles and not very receptive of an outsider, Briski began spending time with the children in the brothels instead — children of the prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers and alcohol dealers — children like Halder.

Briski introduced the children to photography, giving them all a camera to share. She then sold their pictures, raising enough funds to buy them each a camera of their own.

"It was very liberating," Halder said, "and Zana was like a mother to us all. She took charge of our lives, and changed them forever."

The third time Briski visited India, she brought her then-boyfriend Ross Kauffman and a video camera, and they began filming the children's daily lives at the brothel.

"We had no idea we were being watched," Halder said. "We were told it was for a documentary, but we didn't even know what a documentary was. For us, movies just meant Bollywood."

The completed documentary was released in 2004 and went on to win several awards including an Academy Award (Best Documentary Feature, 2005), and recognition at the Sundance Film Festival.

By this point, Halder and some of the other children were at a boarding school in Calcutta, where Briski was sponsoring their education. Briski and Kauffman visited the children at school and showed them the documentary.

"It was the best day of our lives," Halder said, "when we discovered that someone had captured our childhood."

In the aftermath of the documentary, Briski was willing to fund the children's education abroad, and Halder leapt at the opportunity. He applied and was accepted into White Mountain High School in New Hampshire and immediately moved to the U.S.

Having just arrived from the crowded, vivid background of an Indian metropolis, New Hampshire's calm and organized landscape was "an intense culture-shock," Halder said. It was here that he began questioning his ambitions.

"I always thought that I would become a doctor. That's what my parents wanted, and it was embedded in me," Halder said. "But in the summer after my junior year, I did a six-week film workshop at NYU and I realized that film, photography, painting and art were what I was passionate about."

Now a sophomore and film major at Tisch, Halder is living the life he didn't dare dream of years before. But it isn't a happily-ever-after yet.

"Predictably, where I'm from and how I grew up makes it difficult for me to relate to most people, even though I'm grateful for the experiences," he said. "But New York is very diverse, and I'm glad for it."

And unfortunately, Halder's new life has served to alienate his family. "They have very little idea what filmmaking is, or where I am. All they know is that I am somewhere aside from where they think I belong," he regretfully said.

Despite the drawbacks, Halder has a positive outlook on his past and his future.

"People tend to pity me," he said, "but I don't understand it. I have learned so much from the places and people I've come in contact with. I see myself going back to Calcutta, making movies and telling stories that are close to me. 'Born Into Brothels' made me realize how much power film and arts have. It changed my life. Now, I want to change others'."

Rega Jha is a staff writer.