Year: 2021
Director: Aditya Vikram Sengupta
Runtime: 133 min
Country: India, France, Norway
Language: Bengali with English subtitles
Rating: PG13

Awards

NETPAC AWARD (SPECIAL MENTION)
El Gouna Film Festival 2021

GRAND JURY PRIZE
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2022

BEST DIRECTOR
BEST ACTRESS (SREELEKHA MITRA)
New York Indian Film Festival 2022

Synopsis

Calcutta, India. Tethered to storied histories, yet pulled forward by the wheels of change, the discordant rhythms and simmering desires of this dynamic metropolis form the backdrop for a series of overlapping and interwoven stories. Ela grieves the loss of her young daughter and longs to escape her loveless marriage, while her step-brother Bubu, lives alone in the dilapidated cabaret theatre where their mother used to perform. Intersecting with their lives are Ela’s beautician and her boyfriend Raja who inadvertently becomes the agent of a Ponzi scheme.

Written and directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta, Once Upon a Time in Calcutta is the third feature by the rising Indian director. It follows the critical acclaim of his first two works Labour of Love (2014) and Jonaki (2018)—the former having won the FEDEORA (​​Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean) award for best debut feature at Venice Days. Calcutta is also notable for Sengupta’s collaboration with Turkish cinematographer Gökhan Tiryaki, who has shot films of auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

For other screenings of Once Upon a Time in Calcutta, please click here. 

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