Tillotama Shome’s Bengali film, Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox) continues to win accolades. At the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA), Toronto, Tillotama won Best Actor (Female) for her performance in the film, while directors Saumyananda Sahi and Tanushree Das were honoured with the Best Director (International Feature) award. The film also received the NETPAC Award for Best Narrative Feature at the El Gouna Film Festival.
Speaking about winning the award, Tillotama said in a statement, “It is a very comforting feeling to win for a film, whose makers won your heart from the very first interaction. The process of making this Film was such a joy and to receive this vote of confidence from the esteemed jury members, is a massive bonus.”
She added, “It is a huge encouragement to follow one’s heart and travel the long road with those that inspire you. I am really overjoyed that Tanushree and Saumyananda won the best Director prize because their directions, both on and off set were deeply humane while being creatively charged”
Tanushree added, “Shadowbox is a story of quiet rebellion. It is, at its heart, a love story set against considerable odds - humiliation, being ostracised for marrying outside the community, and the taboo of suffering mental distress. It is also, very simply, the everyday fight of a working woman trying to hold her family together. The film’s recognition at such prestigious festivals is an immense honour, and it is very heartening that a story so personal and rooted in my culture has found resonance with audiences around the world.”
Co-Director Saumyananda said, “The making of Shadowbox (Baksho Bondi) has been a close collaboration of many years. These wins are collective wins, which we celebrate with our cast, crew and family of producers. We are deeply grateful to the esteemed jury of IFFSA Toronto and the NETPAC jury of El Gouna Film Festival, as well as the organisers of both festivals, for giving us this recognition.”
Set against the backdrop of a dusty Kolkata suburb, Shadowbox follows a working woman Maya, who discovers that her husband, a retired soldier suffering from PTSD, is the primary suspect in a murder investigation. In light of this discovery, she and her teenage son are forced to extremes to keep their family together.
