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In “Shadowbox”, directors Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi craft an unflinching portrait of resilience, societal burden, and the invisible weight of human endurance. Set in contemporary Kolkata, the film follows Maya (Tillotama Shome) navigating the relentless demands of survival. Her existence is shaped by the economic and emotional toll of an unspoken war waged within her home. Her husband, Sundar (Chandan Bisht), a former army officer, battles Ptsd and alcoholism, retreating into silence and self-destruction. While their teenage son, Debu (Sayan Karmakar), wrestles with a world that has already abandoned him before he has had the chance to define himself.

The film premiered at this year’s Berlinale under the ‘Perspectives’ section. For international audiences, “Shadowbox” might first appear to be a story about the socio-political landscape of India. A social drama about gender, class, migration, and mental health. While it is all those things, it refuses to be reduced to them.

‘Husbands are best when they are dead’ is an idea thrown by one of secondary characters in “Shadowboxing”. Although floated more as a joke, it might be a thought sporadically passing through Maya’s (Tiloatam Shome) head. She has a teenager to raise and an emerging dry-cleaning business to run. On top of that, there is Sundar (Chandan Bisht), her unemployed husband, who requires constant babysitting. The protagonist sends him on job interviews to no avail. He seems more bent on cultivating his passion project. He supplies local universities with frogs which he catches with bare hands, causing a stir among the neighbors on a couple of occasions.

Shadowbox is sceening at Berlin International Film Festival

There is something off about Sundar, and it might have to do with his past experiences in the military. The man carries some trauma, due to which he is constantly on the verge. On the verge of violence,...

Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi’s “Shadowbox” struggles to overcome its plain aesthetic. The tale of a family of three strained by a father’s odd behavior — owing to what appears to be Ptsd — the neorealist Bengali- and Hindi-language drama hints at numerous ideas in the realm of gender, administrative power and the woes of the Indian working class. These themes end up distinctly malformed, but the film is not without its strengths. Its central drama is usually interesting enough, thanks to the impeccable depth of its performances.

Tillotama Shome — known to Western audiences from “Monsoon Wedding” and the French-Indian drama “Sir” — is a sure bet to lead any work in the visual medium, owing to how effortlessly she creates entire worlds through silent struggle. She plays the overqualified housemaid Maya, an educated woman doing her best to make ends meet by serving tea and performing other household odd jobs...

Once in a blue moon, the central performance in a film is so powerful it overshadows the overall excellence of the work. It happened with Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth, where Shabana Azmi towered over what was an intrinsically laudable film.

In debutant co-directors Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi’s Shadowbox (Baksho Bondi in Bengali), the immeasurably accomplished Tillotama Shome sets the screen ablaze with her intense portrayal of Maya , a woman on the brink of a complete breakdown, coping, enduring surviving as she has no other option. Set in what looks like a small town in West Bengal, Maya’s fight for survival is never seen as a trigger for drama. There is a kind of acceptance of circumstances which a multitude of working women from the grassroots would recognize.

Whether ironing clothes and delivering them on her bicycle to her customers or trying to give her mentally challenged husband...

A retired soldier’s descent into crisis and its rippling effect through a working-class Bengali family forms the emotional core of “Shadowbox” (“Baksho Bondi”), set to world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival’s Perspectives strand.

The Bengali-language feature marks the directorial debut of cinematographer Saumyananda Sahi (Oscar nominated “All That Breathes”) and editor Tanushree Das (“Eeb Allay Ooo!”). The filmmakers have unveiled a clip exclusively for Variety.

The film stars acclaimed actor Tillotama Shome as Maya, a woman working multiple jobs – from house cleaning to chicken farming to laundry pressing – while caring for her Ptsd-affected husband Sundar (Chandan Bisht) and their teenage son Debu (newcomer Sayan Karmakar). When Sundar becomes implicated in a murder investigation, Maya must navigate both societal prejudices and her own complicated past decisions.

“The genesis came from two distinct places,” Sahi told Variety. “Tanushree had this dream image of her mother collecting clothes before the rain,...

Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon has come a long way from when it began serialization in 1991. The anime began in 1992, ended alongside the manga in 1997, and was remade from 2014 to '23 as Sailor Moon Crystal. With a history as long as Takeuchi's shoujo classic, it's easy to forget a thing or two about the titular heroine, Usagi Tsukino.

Fans may know she's fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight, but there's a good deal they've forgotten about the lunar princess. With two anime, a prequel manga, movies, a collectible card game, musicals, soundtracks, and even video games, it's easy for some of the more minute details to fall between the cracks. Super fans may be aware of more obscure details, but Sailor Moon fans are always looking to increase their knowledge of the series they know and love.

Sailor Moon Was Meant to Be "Chotto Debu" Takeuchi's Design...