As far as opening nights go, The Indian Film Festival (IFFM) 2025 was less of a scream and more of a quiet cry, the subdued social realist indie film Baksho Bondi and chief guest Aamir Khan, a man of famously few words, setting the tone for what looks to be a less boisterous edition of the festival.
The 16th IFFM, it seems, is intent on putting filmic artistry, rather than star power, front and centre, the Bengali-language Berlinale entry seemingly drawn from the lineage of Satyajit Ray demonstrating just how accomplished our cinematic traditions continue to be.
Set in suburban Kolkata, Baksho Bondi (known as Shadowbox in English) follows Maya, a working-class woman juggling the demands of multiple jobs whilst caring for her PTSD-afflicted ex-army husband Sundar and their teenage son Debu.
“The family, the unit, it becomes a microcosm that helps us understand the world…this film is about this woman who’s trying to keep her family together against great odds – I think that has a sense of universality…I really did feel a sense of so much of my own childhood,” actor Tillotama Shome told Indian Link.
There’s nothing romantic about the difficult circumstances this family is in, nor is their fortitude writ large; the quiet rhythm of their lives shines through with uncluttered cinematography and musical scoring, allowing the onscreen action to simply breathe and exist.
“We wanted to concentrate on everyday activity and see how the atmosphere, the environment around the performer can generate emotion…we wanted to leave gaps so the audience could fill it in,” co-director Tanushree Das said at the film’s screening at Hoyts Docklands last night.
Midway through Baksho Bondi, Maya’s husband Sundar suddenly disappears, becoming the prime suspect in an accidental murder, and Maya and Debu’s resilience is pushed to its limits in a wrenching climax.
“We wanted the audience to participate; we were not going to do a ‘whodunnit’, but we have a murder mystery,” Das told Indian Link. “If you look at the film, it’s about many people…if you take one of them out, the pattern falls apart, because a person is a product of their environment. They must come together.”
With standout performances from the three leads, particularly newcomer Sayan Karmakar as son Debu, Baksho Bondi tests the tenacity of familial bonds, and demonstrates how they simultaneously constrain and anchor us.
“’Shadowbox’ came right at the end when we wanted an English title…it means many things,” Das told Indian Link. “One, I’m not going to say because it’s related to how the film ends, but it’s also the box in which a returned army man keeps the medals and honors that he has received -it’s ironic. It’s about boxed-up lives and the shadows over that.”
The film left audiences with a taste for a more mellow festival; and with this year’s IFFM featuring 75 films in 31 different languages, there’s sure to be something to suit everyone’s palates.
This year’s festival also prides itself on being its most accessible and inclusive yet, with all cinemas being wheelchair accessible, and all films being open captioned, with select screenings featuring an Auslan interpreter and sensory-friendly environment.
Equally, a continuation of IFFM’s Regional Rhapsody series will bring the festival to regional Victorian screens, and centrepiece film Boong is a gem of rarely visited Northeast Indian cinema. Finally, a Pride at IFFM showcase will bring together India’s first queer film, Badnam Basti, and pioneering queer storyteller Onir’s latest work, We Are Faheem and Karun.
