Set in contemporary Delhi, Chunni follows Avni, a young woman eager to attend her school party, whose excitement is stifled when her conservative family forbids her from wearing what she wants. Forced to cover up with a chunni, a symbol of modesty, Avni’s quiet rebellion unfolds over one night as she steps out into the city on her own. What begins as an act of defiance turns into a confrontation with fear, perception, and the deep-rooted conditioning that shapes how women navigate freedom.
Kaashvi Agarwal is a writer, director, and producer and a recent graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts (BFA Film & Television). Based in New York City, her work explores themes of memory, grief, identity, and the uncanny through narrative-driven storytelling. Her films have screened at notable platforms including the Chicago South Asian Film Festival and Soho House Mumbai. She has also worked in post-production on the documentary Nocturnes, which received the 2024 Sundance World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft.
The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is the oldest, most prestigious film festival screening premieres of feature, documentary and
short films made from, of, and about the Indian subcontinent in the Independent, arthouse, alternate and diaspora genres.
