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Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox): Stirring Bengali Drama Opens IFFM 2025
The Bengali-language drama Baksho Bondi—internationally titled Shadowbox—has been officially selected as the Opening Night film of the 16th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM). The film is set to premiere in Australia on August 14, 2025, underlining its growing international acclaim and the rising influence of independent cinema in India.
A Global Journey: From Berlin to Melbourne
Baksho Bondi made its world premiere in February 2025 at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, where it was featured in the newly inaugurated Perspectives section, a competitive platform for debut features from emerging filmmakers .
The film went on to receive praise for its intimate storytelling and Tillotama Shome’s powerful central performance.
Now, chosen as the Opening Night selection for IFFM 2025, Shadowbox cements its stature as a film that resonates beyond regional confines. IFFM’s director, Mitu Bhowmick Lange, described the film as “tender, honest, and visually stunning,” commending its emotional depth and global relevance—a perfect reflection of the festival’s ethos.
Story & Craft: Quiet Resilience in a Bengali Suburb
Directed by debutants Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi, Baksho Bondi tells the quietly powerful story of Maya, a working-class woman in a Kolkata suburb juggling family, survival, and societal expectations. Maya, portrayed with understated strength by Tillotama Shome, supports her family through multiple odd jobs. Her husband, Sundar (Chandan Bisht), a former army man grappling with PTSD, spends his days catching frogs as a bizarre survival tactic, while their teenage son Debu (Sayan Karmakar) navigates the humiliation of his father’s condition.
The narrative turns when Sundar goes missing and reappears days later as a murder suspect, plunging Maya’s already arduous life into chaos. What unfolds is less a thriller and more a deeply human portrait of endurance, love, and emotional survival under crushing circumstances.
The film’s title, Baksho Bondi—literally translating to “box-bound”—metaphorically captures Maya’s entrapment in layers of domestic obligation, unfulfilled desire, social prejudice, and economic stagnation. As co-director Tanushree Das has explained, the box is both self-imposed and externally imposed—a constraint that Maya must ultimately reckon with.
Festival Momentum & Broader Context
IFFM 2025, backed by the Victorian Government, will run from August 14 to 24, with its Awards Night scheduled for August 15. The festival is known for championing layered stories from across India’s linguistic, regional, and independent spectrum.
By choosing Baksho Bondi – Shadowbox as its curtain-raiser, the festival underscores its commitment to Indian independent cinema that tackles complex socio-emotional themes and showcases women beyond stereotypical tropes. The film’s inclusion signals IFFM’s support of content that is intimate yet universal in tone, reflective yet cinematic in style.
Why This Premiere Matters
- Regional Voices on Global Stage
Baksho Bondi demonstrates how regional cinema, even when rooted in a small Bengali town, can reach global audiences with its universality—human struggle, empathy, hope. - Women-Centric Storytelling
The film foregrounds the life of a working woman, refusing clichés associated with single mothers or poor laborers. Maya’s identity and perseverance are complex, interior, and richly observed. - Expanded Visibility
With its Berlin debut and now an Australian premiere launching IFFM, the film stays in festival conversations, potentially leading to wider theatrical or digital release across borders. - Platform for New Directors
For debut filmmakers Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi, this is a launch pad that marks them as emergent voices in contemporary Indian cinema, combining lyrical realism with intimate social insight .
In Summary
Baksho Bondi – Shadowbox is a quietly powerful film that grew from humble Kolkata streets to the global red carpets of Berlin—and now, to Melbourne’s chief festival screening. Its selection as Opening Night film at IFFM 2025 affirms the global resonance of Indian independent cinema: stories rooted in specific geographies, yet speaking to universal resilience and humanity. At its core stands Tillotama Shome’s Maya, a symbol of steadfast strength amid hardship, whose small sacrifices echo larger truths about society, class, and silent fortitude.
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