Kolkata filmmaker duo experiments on blending magic realism and existential horror

After their award-winning short films including ‘Malai’ and ‘Kayantar’, National Award-winning filmmakers Rajdeep Paul and Sarmistha Maiti are ready with their next film ‘Kalkokkho’ (House Of Time) which aims to bridge the gap between magical realism and existential horror as it highlights the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The cast of the film includes Sreelekha Mukherji, Janardan Ghosh, Tannistha Biswas, Amit Saha, Deep Sarkar and Ahana Karmakar in key roles.
Sharing more details about the film’s storyline, Rajdeep said, “In the middle of a contagious pandemic an apathetic but adept doctor is taken hostage by a young woman in a desperate attempt to ensure the safety of her family. Captive in an almost desolate house inhabited by three women of three ages – the paranoid young woman, an amnesic old woman and a lonely young girl, the doctor discovers that forces beyond his comprehension are at play and he might be trapped not only in space but also in time.”

Sarmistha explained how their film explores the texture of time with a blend of magic realism and existential horror, “It expresses the sense of dread and temporal stasis generated globally by the Pandemic. Through mythological allegory and spiritual subtext, it explores eternal themes like reality and illusion, instinct and morality, love, loneliness and grief, the power of stories, nature of the feminine and the masculine, and the discriminations of ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘they’ that has fragmented the world we live in to tell a tale of “longing for belongingness” which is the biggest crisis of human existence now and forever,”
‘Kalkokkho’ is being sent to different festivals right now and it’s already an official selection at the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival, scheduled to be held in January 2022.