Tokri (The Basket): A Landmark Achievement in Indian Stop-Motion Filmmaking

Directed by Suresh Eriyat | Studio Eeksaurus

Independent stop-motion films rarely reach the scale, emotional depth, and technical ambition achieved in Tokri (The Basket)—a remarkable short film from Indian director and animator Suresh Eriyat and the Mumbai-based studio Eeksaurus. With its finely crafted clay characters, bustling miniature cityscapes, and moving, humanistic storytelling, Tokri has earned its reputation as one of India’s most celebrated stop-motion films.

A Story Born From a Real Moment

The inspiration behind Tokri came from a personal encounter. While driving through Mumbai, Eriyat noticed a young girl selling wicker baskets at a traffic signal. He ignored her sales pitch—a familiar moment for anyone in a crowded city—but afterward he found himself deeply affected.
What was her story? Where did she come from? What did her daily struggle look like?

That moment of empathy became the seed for Tokri, a film grounded in the lived experience of India’s working-class children and the quiet, often invisible battles they face.

A Simple Story Told with Extraordinary Craft

Tokri follows a young girl who accidentally breaks her father’s prized possession—often described as an heirloom watch—and sets out to make things right by selling baskets on the streets of Mumbai. The film unfolds with warmth and sensitivity, exploring themes of guilt, forgiveness, familial love, and redemption.

Though the narrative is simple and universal, the filmmaking is extraordinarily complex. Tokri is overflowing with texture and life: narrow interior rooms, bustling street corners, shop façades, market stalls, traffic, and dozens of individual moving elements frame by frame. It is a film unafraid to go wide—a rarity in stop-motion, where artists often choose tighter compositions to reduce production strain.

Eight Years in the Making

The making of Tokri became its own epic journey.
Produced independently and self-funded through Studio Eeksaurus, the short film took eight years to complete. Between commercial projects, the team would return to their stop-motion sets—unpacking long-stored puppets, repairing clay, adjusting lights, refining props, and rebuilding sections of the city piece by piece.

The film’s handcrafted world was created by an extensive team of artists and technicians, including:

Story & Direction: Suresh Eriyat
Producer: Nilima Eriyat
Director of Photography: Srinivas Reddy
Music: Rajat Dholakia
Animation: Mukund Bhalegare, Adam Wyrwas, Sanjay Patkar, Swati Agarwal
Art Direction & Modeling: Sandeep Meher, Krishna Kedar, Mukund Bhalegare, and others

The project became a long-form passion piece for the studio and a demonstration of what Indian stop-motion could accomplish when given time, patience, and heartfelt creative drive.

Crafting Mumbai in Miniature

One of the film’s most striking achievements is its breathtaking depiction of Mumbai.
From roadside vendors and passing vehicles to the shifting crowds and layered textures of aging walls, Tokri captures the energy and chaos of the city in a way that feels astonishingly real—yet still dreamlike in its stylized, handcrafted form.

The result is a film that doesn’t simply show a story—it immerses viewers in a lived-in world.

Global Recognition

Since its release, Tokri has earned extensive festival acclaim and international attention. Highlights include:

Winner – Best Animation Film, 65th National Film Awards (India)
Over 30 festival awards worldwide
Screenings at major international festivals including StopTrik, Palm Springs, Athens Animfest, KROK, and more

The success of Tokri also sparked renewed attention on India’s evolving stop-motion community. Many critics and filmmakers have pointed to the film as evidence that Indian studios can produce world-class stop-motion animation with unique cultural specificity and artistic daring.

A Touching, Timeless Achievement

Tokri (The Basket) is a testament to what emerges when patience, craftsmanship, and empathy converge.
Eriyat and his team created more than just an animated short—they built a miniature portrait of Indian life, one that honors overlooked stories and elevates the voices of those who rarely appear onscreen.

This painstaking labor of love stands as one of the most important stop-motion films to emerge from India, and a shining example of what the medium is capable of when artists refuse to compromise vision for convenience.