Short film 'Laali' starring Pankaj Tripathi premieres at DIFF

Abhiroop Basu's latest short film 'Laali', starring Pankaj Tripathi, is now showing at the virtual Dharamshala International Film Festival. Abhiroop, an award-winning director and screenwriter, has written, directed, and edited this film and he tells us that the short is a tale of longing and loneliness.
Abhiroop says that when he wrote the character, he had Pankaj Tripathi in mind.He says,"I had contacted Pankaj and he was busy with another project, so he told me to narrate the story over the phone. But I insisted that I'd like to meet him in person to narrate it, and then he's free to reject it. I was like, 'Even if you do not do the film, at least hear me out'. Finally, he called me to meet him in Mumbai. Our meeting was scheduled for 30 minutes but it went on for over three hours. After I finished narration, he said, 'Main yeh kar raha hoon.'"
The film tells the story of an ishtriwala (laundry man) who irons only office clothes. But one day, a red dress lands among those clothes. The story shows how among all the greys and white coloured clothes, this particular red dress disrupts the whole life of the man.

Abhiroop says,"A couple of years back in Kolkata, I spotted an ishtriwala who used to mechanically do his work, without chatting with anyone from the neighbourhood stores. One day, when I was there on the opposite side of the road, I saw a marriage procession was crossing the road. People from the neighbourhood came out to see it, but this ishtriwala didn't even look up and went on with his task. I was curious to know his background story. Then I wrote the story of 'Laali'."
The film is the story of a man who lives in a suburb in Kolkata and has been filmed at a single location. Abhiroop says, "Pankaj Tripathi added so much more to the character - the man's grief and loneliness touched a chord and I've had people coming to me telling me that they felt the loneliness of the character."
He adds,"It is interesting to see how after watching the film people are interpreting it in their own way and coming to their own conclusions about the end."