CJ Desk

Tillotama Shome’s Bengali-language drama Baksho Bondi - Shadowbox will open the 16th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) on August 14, marking the film’s Australian premiere after its world bow at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, reported Variety.

Baksho Bondi was co-directed by debutant Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi and stars Shome as Maya, a woman working multiple jobs, from house cleaning to chicken farming to laundry pressing, while caring for her PTSD-afflicted husband and their teenage son. The situation becomes tricky after Shome’s husband becomes implicated in a murder investigation, leading to more problems for Tillotama Shome.

“Baksho Bondi is incredibly close to my heart,” said Shome, who is also one of the producers of the film.She continued, “Playing Maya was a lesson in listening to silences, in discovering strength in small acts, and in understanding how quiet resilience shapes women’s lives in a world that often overlooks them.”