Shomshuklla

Shomshuklla is an Indian film director, script writer, theatre personality, singer and writer.

Early life Shomshuklla was born in Kolkata to Bengali parents, her father who was a student of Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan and her mother who was a lecturer. At the age of seven, she joined Dakshinee, an acclaimed music teaching institution to learn the music form 'Rabindra Sangeet'. In 1985, she met Bhaskar Das on a mini bus in Kolkata and tied the knot with him six months later. The couple had their only child, Uditvanu Das in 1989. It was in 1990 that she relocated from Kolkata to Ahmedabad and joined Krishnakant Parekh, a disciple of Pandit Jasraj to study and learn music. In 1995, she left Ahmedabad for Mumbai to embark on her creative career. In Mumbai, she started learning classical music from the renowned Dr. Prabha Atre from the year 1995 onwards. She was a columnist with Asian Age, writing about relationships and also an interior designer, designing eclectic homes.

Career

Music Her first Indi Pop was Dhin Tara, produced by Times Music and released in 1998. Her second album Raahien was released in 2001 and a music video for it was shot in Corsica. A couple of years later in 2003, Shomshuklla released her first album of remixes titled ‘Glimpse’. Cafe Kalighat (2004) and Kolkata Jam (2006), her fourth and fifth albums, composed of Rabindra Sangeet fusion into the world music genre. Electrik was her second last album which released in 2005 and her last album as a singer ‘Sonic Frames’ released in 2008. Shomshuklla released 2 Bengali modern song music albums Mukto Paakhi (2001) and Chuye Jete Moon (2003), as well.

Poetry In 2006, she published poetry with Rupa Publications, and released her first book ‘I Have Seen That Face Before’. A year later, she wrote her second book of poetry, ‘Close Every Door’ with Rupa Publications and was launched by Award-winning lyricist and ad man Prasoon Joshi at Crossword in Mumbai. Shomshuklla's third book of poems ‘Seconds Before Sunrise’ was published in 2009. The honours were done by noted ad-man Piyush Pandey. Shomshuklla's fifth book of poems, Do Not Stand So Close To Me in 2009, was launched by Pritish Nandy. During the launch she read some insightful poems about being a mother and her bond with her son. ‘Easy’, the 7th book of poetry by Shomshuklla, was launched in December 2013 at the famous Kitab Khana by Brinda Miller, the famous canvas artist and lady behind the landmark KalaGhoda Arts Festival in Mumbai. The lucid words are accompanied alongside photographs by ace photographer and award-winning Cinematographer, Ritam Banerjee.

Shomshuklla has also written two books of Bengali poetry, 'Chulta Elomelo' (2009) in Kolkata and 'Ekti Manusher Khoje' (2012) launched by Sahitya Academy award winner, Bani Basu and actor Nigel Akkara at the Kolkata Book Fair.

Theatre Shomshuklla owns a theater company by the name of ‘Kali Theatre’ which was established in 2006. The company staged their first play ‘I Have Gone Marking’ to house-full halls at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai. During this time, she also was the first artist to reinvent Rabindra Sangeet for global audiences with Kolkata Jam. Flawless, a three-woman centric story, staged on 2007. Flawless, a three-woman centric story, was staged on 2007. In 2008, she performed her play ‘Sometimes’ in Kolkata to packed houses and just a year later she staged her play ‘Tonight I can write’ with her company Kali Theatre. This is one of the only theatre companies to have performed at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The play, ‘We Draupadi's and Sitas’ premiered in 2011 on such a global stage. She continued to stage more plays with her troop such as Queen Mandodari, Roti Kapra Makan and Radio Epic amongst others. Her latest play, ‘Oh Gandhari, Oh Kunti!’ showcased at the prestigious Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2013 held in Mumbai, India.

Actor Shomshuklla starred in the film Murals in 2018, for which she was nominated as the Best Lead Actress at the Nice International Film Festival in 2018.

Films

Shomshuklla is a self taught art house filmmaker. She started shooting her first feature film in 2012, Sandcastle - and the rest of the films followed. She has won several international acclaims for her feature films, which have also became part of curriculum at the University of Maryland, film study curriculum. Her films became part of the PhD thesis at the University of Maryland, as well. An award has been created after her name in Festival in US, Angaelica, to identify new talents, called "The Shom Award". One of her films, " Light Wraps Me", has been selected in the prestigious Florence Binneale to be part of their program.

Shomshuklla has been appointed as a Jury member for Film Fest International, a group of film festivals based in London.

Sandcastle (2013) Sandcastle was an independent film directed by Shomshuklla, which released in India on 14 March 2014. Conceptualized back in the year 2006, it is the story of Sheila, a home-maker, an aspiring writer and a loving mother. From an outsider's perspective, it would seem like she has the perfect life. Husband being an advertising maverick, she is part of the elite upper middle class of Indian society. The concept of Sandcastle reflects one's belief to be able to build a perfect life. The focus of the film is on women in urban India. The face of women in India has been changing over the ages into a form much more independent and in control of their individual destinies. Through Sandcastle, Shomshuklla aimed to show the two colliding worlds of acceptance and breaking out of the modern Indian woman.

Before its release in India, Sandcastlewas nominated in various categories at numerous international film festivals including the Tenerife International Film Festival, London International Film Festival and LA Femme International Feature. Ritam Banerjee's work on Sandcastle won it the best cinematography award at the Tenerife Film Festival.

In the later part of 2014, the film competed as one of the entries for The Academy Awards, commonly known as The Oscars, from India for the 2015 Academy Awards selection.

Chhutii Aar Picnic (Original Title : Picnic) (2013) Chhutii Aar Picnic (A holiday and a picnic) is an upcoming romantic drama directed by Shomshuklla starring Shahana Chatterjee, Uditvanu Das & Sohini Mukherjee Roy. The film is based on Rabindranath Tagore's popular romantic novella, Shesher Kobita, one of his most popular novellas. Chhutii Aar Picnic has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Feature Film categories at the Madrid International Film Festival held in July 2014.

Hopscotch (2015) Hopscotch is a psychological thriller directed by Shomshuklla. Starring Sohini Mukherjee Roy, Hopscotch tells the story of a young woman who returns home one day to find that a childhood friend, she once lost, is back to play games with her. Hopscotch has received multiple nominations at the recently concluded Madrid International Film Festival, Tenerife International Film Festival and won numerous awards.

Tiktok Tiktok (2016) Starring Mia Maelzer, Uditvanu Das and Sohini Mukherjee Roy, Tiktok Tiktok is a surreal romance between a restaurateur and a journalist, directed by Shomshuklla. Tiktok Tiktok won the award at the Nice International Film Festival for Best Original Screenplay.

White Bee (2016) Starring Tanu Kurien Vaswani and Sumanto Chattopadhyay, White Bee is a film where a couple meets, after a separation – perhaps for the last time. The woman seems vulnerable, broken by the failed marriage. The man appears blasé about the break-up. If he expresses any doubts, they are about the ability of his wife to cope with the big bad world outside the cocoon of marriage. But as the story unfolds, it emerges that the woman is resilient, and it is he who is vulnerable – and needy of the shelter of their togetherness.

Mixed Medium (2017) The film Mixed Medium , starring Teesay, explores the lives of artists as they navigate the contrast between their real and reel lives. It is a journey of how surreal their work and life are, whereas in real life, a simple cup of coffee can enlighten their day. Life full of mixed mediums and a way they live their life, sometimes artistically or sometimes intellectually. They may be in their dream world, full of aspirations but it's the rain that brings them to reality. It's a story of how they rehearse and perform for their stage show, and contradict to that how relax they like to be in their own space. Also, you will get to see how romance and love play a critical role in each day of their lives.

Flowers and Lap of a Rose (2017) Starring Bharat Dabholkar and Ria Patel, Flowers and Lap of a Rose is a story of an established poet where the poet's writing of a new sonnet was inspired by his love of a charismatic girl.

Murals (2017) Starring Shomshuklla Das and Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Murals is the story of a couple who were once lovers, meet in a resort after few years by chance. It is a mixed feeling of emotions. They went through the reason of their breakup and are eager to know about what would have happened in all these years of parting and are in a dilemma whether to get back into the relationship again.

The Bird (2018) The Bird is a story of a successful corporate woman, who suddenly realised the futility of her corporate life and plans to get back to her family.

Bunch Of Grapes (2018) Starring Catherine Black and Sharmila Roy Choudhury, Bunch of Grapes is a story of a mother and daughter. It portrays an evolving relationship between a mother and daughter. It shows the complications, positives, and negatives of the relationship. Have created difficulties between the two. No mother is happy with their daughters and vice versa.

Light Wraps Me (2019) Starring Lipi Goyal and Archana Singh, Light Wraps Me tells a story about how men are a gregarious animal. They have a different passion to live and absorb life. The film also builds the journey and characters of 3 women in search of love, life and existence in the form of their freedom and independence.

Aaedon (2020) Aaedon tells the story of the eternal search of love, life and spirituality. A mother talks about the intricacies of life to her young daughter, who blissfully listens to her discourse while playing her violin, through which she searches for her spirituality. It stars Adeon Young and Alexandria Cook.

When I, I love you (2020) When I,I love you is the story of a writer who is writing his novel of the same name. He is wanting to be with his beloved who is totally indifferent to his presence and dwells in a world of illusion. The writer urges to her return to his love and life.

Mount Umer (2021) Mount Umer is a story of a girl, who is waiting for her lover, to come and take care of her. She met with her accident when she was with her lover, and she has gone paralyzed. Her lover is a doctor who is researching on the new method of medical science to cure such patients. It's a love story, of a girl waiting for her doctor lover.

Filmography Year Films Directed Notes 2013 Sandcastle Tenerife International Film Festival Won: Best Cinematography (Ritam Banerjee) Nominated: Sandcastle – Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor, Best Female Lead, Best Feature Film

London International Film Festival Nominated: Best Foreign Language Feature, Best Director of a Foreign Language Feature, Best Original Story, Best Cinematography

LA Femme International Feature: Official Selection

Madrid International Film Festival Nominated: Best Story, Best Foreign Language Feature Film

Mexico International Film Festival Won: 2015 Bronze Palm Award – First Time Filmmaker 2014 Chhutii Aar Picnic (Changed from original name : Picnic) Madrid International Film Festival Won: Best Cinematography Nominated: Best Original Screenplay of a Foreign Language Film, Best Supporting Actor (Female), Best Cinematography, Best Lead Actor (Male), Best Directing of a Foreign Language Film

Columbia Gorge International Film Festival Won: Best Cinematography

International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema Won: Best Male Lead (Uditvanu Das) in a Foreign Language Film

Mexico International Film Festival Won: 2015 Bronze Palm Award – Narrative Feature Competition 2015 Hopscotch St. Tropez & Nice International Film Festival Won: Best Original Screenplay for a Foreign Language Film

Mexico International Film Festival Won: 2015 Golden Palm – Best Narrative Feature

Milan International Film Festival Won: Best Actress, Sohini Mukherjee Roy

International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema Won: Best Actress, Sohini Mukherjee Roy

Tenerife International Film Festival Won: Best Actress, Sohini Mukherjee Roy

Columbia Gorge International Film Festival Won: Most Ambitious Feature Film

International Horror Hotel Festival Won: Suspense – Thriller Award

Berlin International Film Festival Won: Best Original Screenplay of a Foreign Language Film 2016 TikTok St. Tropez & Nice International Film Festival Won: Best Original Screenplay of a Feature Film

Milan International Film Festival 2016 Won: Best Editing of a feature film

Festival Angaelica 2016 Won: International Experimental Film

Columbia Gorge International Film Festival 2016 Won: International Experimental Film

London IFF 2017 Official Selection: Best Original Screenplay of a Feature Film 2016 White Bee Madrid International Film Festival Won: Best Actress, Tanu Kurien Vaswani

Milan International Film Festival 2017 Nominated: Best Original Screenplay of a Feature Film, Best Feature Film

London International Film Festival 2018 Nominated: Best Story, Best Lead Actor

Mexico International Film Festival 2018 Won: Golden Palm Award 2017 Mixed Medium Milan International Film Festival 2017 Won: Best Editing of a Feature Film, Priyank Yadav Nominated: Best Film, Best Director, Best Lead Actress, Lipi Goyal, Best Cinematography in a Feature Film

London International Film Festival 2018 Won: Best Original Screenplay of a Feature Film Nominated: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Feature Film, Best Supporting Actress, Best Lead Actress

Nice International Film Festival 2018 Nominated: Best Original Screenplay, Best Feature Film, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Lead Actress 2017 Flowers and a Lap of Rose London International Film Festival 2017 Nominated: Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography in a Feature Film

Amsterdam International Film Festival 2018 Won: Best Director Nominated: Best Original Screenplay of a Feature Film, Best Editing of a Feature Film

Madrid International Film Festival 2018 Won: Best Director Nominated: Best Director, Best Cinematography

Berlin International Film Festival 2017 Won: Best Costume

Festival Angaelica 2017 Won: Legacy Award – The Shom Award

Mexico International Film Festival 2018 Won: Golden Palm Award for Narrative Feature 2017 Murals London International Film Festival 2017 Nominated: Best Director, Best Editing

Madrid International Film Festival 2018 Won: Best Cinematography

Nice International Film Festival 2018 Won: Best Editing of a Feature Film 2018 The Bird Nice International Film Festival 2019 Won: Best Original Screenplay of a Feature Film

Madrid International Film Festival 2019 Nominated: Best Editing of a Feature Film, Best Cinematography in a Feature Film 2018 Bunch Of Grapes London International Film Festival 2019 Won: Best Editing of a Feature Film Nominated: Best Director, Best Editing of a Feature Film, Best Cinematography in a Feature Film

Mexico International Film Festival 2019 Won: Best Director

Madrid International Film Festival 2019 Nominated: Best Editing of a Feature Film, Best Story

Milan International Film Festival 2019 Nominated: Best Editing of a Foreign Language Feature Film, Best Story 2019 Light Wraps Me Madrid International Film Festival 2019 Won: Best Visual Effects Nominated: Best Set Design

Milan International Film Festival 2019 Won: Best Original Score Nominated: Best Original Score, Best Hair, Makeup & Body Design

London International Film Festival 2020 Nominated: Best Costume, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Set Design 2020 Aaedon London International Film Festival 2020 Won: Best Original Score

Nice International Film Festival 2020 Won: Best Cinematography in a Feature Film

Antwerp International Film Festival 2020 Won: Best Cinematography in a Feature Film

Festival Angelica 2020 Won: Best International Experimental Film

Milan International Film Festival 2021 Won: Best Editing of a Feature Film

World Independent Cinema Awards 2021 Won: Best Editing of a Feature Film Won: Best Original Screenplay of a Feature Film 2020 When I, I love you Madrid International Film Festival Won: Best Editing of a Feature Film

Antwerp International Film Festival 2020 Won: Best Sound Design

Milan International Film Festival 2021 Won: Best Lead Actress, Sarah Ahmed

Edinburgh IFF 2022 Won: Best Hair, Makeup & Costume

Paris IFF 2022 Won: Best Editing of an English Language Film

WICA 2025 Won: Best Editing Won: The Best Director Short Movie 2021 Mount Umer London International Film Festival 2021 Won: Best Lead Actor Won: Best Cinematography in a Feature Film

Nice International Film Festival 2021 Won: Best Cinematography in a Feature Film

Madrid International Film Festival 2021 Won: Best Set Design in a Feature Film

Milan International Film Festival 2021 Won: Best Set Design in a Feature Film

Antwerp International Film Festival 2021 Won: Iti Pawar for Outstanding Actress in an English Language Feature Film

Edinburgh IFF 2022 Won: Best Cinematography

Canterbury IFF 2022 Won: Best Cinematography

Paris IFF 2022 Won: Best Music

Barcelona IFF 2022 Won: Best Editing Won: Best Sound Design

Rome FFI 2022 Won: Best Editing

World International Cinema Award (WICA), Edinburgh. 2023 Won: Best Sound Design 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award Madrid International Film Festival Shomshuklla received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Madrid International Film Festival jury for her work in art house films.

Artistic Style and Themes Shomshuklla is a self taught film director. In the initial years of filmmaking she was highly influenced by Alphonso, Jean Luc Godard, Almodovar, kieslowski, David Cronenberg, Chaplin, Satyajit Ray, Inger Bergman and Polanski. Her first feature film, Sandcastle was compared to the style of Terence Mallick. In all of her films, music plays an important role. In her third film, she uses only one actor to tell the full story. In her fourth film, TikTok TikTok, she introduced her style of voice sound mix, which became her signature style.

She introduced no sync dialogues to create the feeling of playing with sounds. As she was influenced by Chaplin, she realized a silent film. She believes in breaking all rules and creating one's own. In her film, The Bird, containing stills and video, thus using the oldest art form to tell her story, in a single space. The style that she used in many of her films.

She repeated her scenes in film, to break the stereotype, like in Flowers and the lap of rose. In the film, Mixed medium, she used the same dialogue with different actors to enact it differently, thus creating a unique style. Her style is versatile and unique.

Books Year of Launch Name of Poetry Book 2006 I Have Seen That Face Before 2007 Close Every Door 2009 Seconds Before Sunrise 2010 Chul Ta Elomelo 2011 Do Not Stand So Close To Me 2012 Ekta Manusher Khoje 2013 Easy

Music albums Year of Launch Album name Notes 1998 Dhin Tara Hear the music 2001 Raahein Hear the music 2001 Mukto Paakhi Free bird (Bengali to English Translation). Shomshuklla's second Bengali modern songs album. 2003 Glimpse Hear the music 2003 Chuye Jete Moon The Inner Rhythm (Bengali to English Translation). Shomshuklla's first Bengali modern songs album. 2004 Café Kalighat Shomshuklla's first album with Rabindra Sangeet fusion into the world music genre. 2006 Kolkata Jam Shomshuklla's second album with Rabindra Sangeet fusion into the world music genre. 2006 Electrik Hear the music 2008 Sonic Frames Hear the music

Plays Year of Launch Name of Play Notes 2006 I Have Gone Marking 2007 Flawless 2008 Sometimes 2009 Tonight I Can Write 2010 We Draupadis & Sitas Performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011 Queen Mandodari 2011 Radio Epic 2012 Roti Kapra Makaan 2013 Oh Gandhari, Oh Kunti