A beautifully minimalistic intertwining of ordinary lives in Kolkata, DEBRIS OF DESIRE follows four main characters with varying approaches to realize their seemingly impossible dreams of a better life. There’s Satya, the petty criminal in love with his reluctant benefactor, Beuti, a savvy, hard-working sex-worker. Their story has shadows of an innocent love story between two dreamers, but Satya’s get-rich-quick attitude leads him to attempt a criminal short-cut to Beuti’s heart, potentially cutting short her own dreams after having made peace with an already tragic life. Then there’s Soma, a pragmatic mother, who finds work as a handmaid, tired of waiting for her husband Chandu. His broken ego and impatience drives him to a life of crime. Glimpses of humanity allow us to deeply empathize with the men, while questioning their tactics, made to look even more pitiful as their stories are told in parallel to the women’s, unafraid of hard work. When their lives collide in a minimal moment with maximal impact, their fates are all but sealed, likely to be stuck in the confines of their powerless lives. 

Indranil Roychowdhury’s steady direction and his and Sugata Sinha’s immersive writing makes for a rich film that has a rare combination of a gripping narrative expressed with wonderfully lush cinematography, and pitch-perfect on-screen performances by the entire ensemble. Rendered unable to look away as a slow-burning tragedy unfolds, we are bonded with the characters themselves, also innocently hoping for impossible dreams to come true.

DIRECTOR

Graduating from the Film And Television Inst Of India, Pune in 1995, Indranil Roychowdhury has been working as a director/producer in Kolkata since 1996. He has directed and produced over 100 TV commercials, documentaries, telefilms, reality television, music videos, and game shows for Bangla TV channels. In 2005, Indranil directed TAPANBABU, a short film within the omnibus feature, EK MUTHO CHOBI. 2013, he released his solo directorial debut, PHORING which received worldwide festival play. Indranil has recently completed his second full length feature, MAYAR JONJAL (DEBRIS OF DESIRE), which is a Indo-Bangladesh co-production film, based on two short stories by Manik Bandopadhyay. The film had its world premiere at the Shanghai International FF. Indranil Roychowdhury lives and works in Kolkata.