Labour of Love

Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox) recently had its premiere at the prestigious Berlinale 2025 in the 'Perspectives' section, among 14 other films by debutante filmmakers. Tatsam Mukherjee spoke to directors Das and Sahi and producers Naren Chandavarkar and Shaunak Sen on the film's genesis and the changing landscape for independent films. Excerpts:

- Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi's

Tanushree, what was the genesis of the idea of the film?

Tanushree: At first, Baksho Bondi wasn't a film at all. It was a dream I'd had—about my Maa at our old house—the ones which had a roof without a parapet. It was around Kalboishakhi—when it usually rains in Kolkata. It's about to start raining, and Maa is running to gather all the clothes as fast as she can. She was afraid I'll fall, so she's also holding me. Meanwhile, we're also getting trapped among the flying clothes. From this hectic moment, it suddenly becomes a beautiful one when it rains and we all embrace. When I met Somo (Saumyananda Sahi) at the Film & Television of Institute of India, we connected over the films we loved. I told him about this dream, which I'd written down. That was the beginning. We started off with the intent to explore how my Maa managed to do everything that she did and, as a result, explore how mothers in general are able to do so much.