Abhiroop Basu's new short film, Gudiya, will have its world premiere at the 46th Odense International Short Film Festival in Denmark. It has been selected in the International Competition category, where it will compete with 123 films from over 40 countries. 

Abhiroop has directed short films like Laali and Meal in the past. In Gudiya, he explores a day in the life of a sex-worker in Bengal, in an allegory about the power relations that bind us all. The nine-minute short was filmed on an iPhone 13 with a crew of four. The film stars Satakshi Nandy with Apeksha Singh.

"In a world diametrically divided between the powerful and the powerless, Gudiya aims to hold up a mirror to a nation obsessed with a false sense of hyper-nationalism that blinds them in the face of stark reality," Abhiroop tells Cinema Express. "We are all simply dolls at the hands of the people in power. Gudiya is just a reminder of where we stand in the food-chain."

On his run-and-gun shooting style, the director elaborates, "This was really a Dogma (95) inspired experience where it all boiled down to just the camera interacting with the actor, the environment and vice versa. There is no adulteration or manipulation through set design, music... What you see is what you get." 

Gudiya will release early next year.