It doesn’t happen every day that a team of
legendary filmmakers comes together to bring their individuals stories as one
film. Believe it or not but it is true that Filmmakers Mahesh Manjrekar,
Pradeep Sarkar, Priyadarshan and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury have brought their
individual stories together to make a film “The Invisible Mask” (working title)
which will be released on an OTT platform. The film is an amalgamation of four
short stories; each directed by four acclaimed National Award winning
directors. The film is under currently in post production.
All four films have strong underlying social
messages, which will leave the audience with ample food for thought.
Pradeep Sarkar dwells into the punishable act of
love in our country – homosexuality. Mahesh Manjrekar’s short film deals with
secrecy and living a secret for life. Priyadarshan’s film goes on to address
the inner demons that force us to wear masks, since we are too afraid to show
our deepest darkest desires. Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s film centers on the very
pertinent issue of mental illness.
Filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar says, “Four directors-
Priyadarshan, Pradeep Sarkar, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and I made this 4
short films which will be brought together for the film "The Invisible
Masks". Overall it was a great experience. It was not an easy short film
to make. Our subject was the invisible masks in relationships. Sometimes people
pretend to be someone else and act in a different way, everyone carries an
invisible mask. It was a difficult task to find a story which was relevant to
the subject and that would tell the story of these invisible masks. This is my
first short film and it was a thrilling experience to tell a story in 40
minutes."
Filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar shares, “I heard about
this concept of Invisible Mask anthology a few months back. When Suchhanda
narrated to me about an incident that occurred in North Kolkata, it fascinated
me, more so, because it happened in our present times. In our story Arranged
Marriage, apart from the main characters we also have our society playing a
humongous role. People wear masks most of the time, and often, these masked
individuals could be sitting next to you. It’s about time people removed these
disguises, and make our society more tolerable to live with. Through this
story, I am taking the opportunity to reveal a few facts of life, which even in
this day and age, make people cringe .Perhaps, this time; I have been too
visually blatant. But that is how it is...”
Filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury says, "When
Suchhanda suggested I make a film with ‘betrayal’ as the central theme, I was
excited about the idea. The story of this short film is, I feel, very relevant
to our present times, where everyone seems to be playing someone and getting
played. The theme inspired me to think of the story of a married couple and
explore the usually unspoken shades of grey in every relationship. I have
attempted to make a psychological thriller revolving around the lives of the
current generation, where people have become lonelier and increasingly
dependent on technology to feel secure and happy. Overall, it was a great
experience working on this film.”
Filmmaker Priyadarshan said, “My story revolves
around a young man and an older woman. It was Suchhanda's story which I
developed and made my own. The concept is very unique and it will surely catch
the eyeballs. It was an amazing experience working on this short film.”
The film is produced and financed by Venus
Worldwide Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and partly financed by Armaan Ventures.
Sanchita Chatterjee is the co – producer and Suchhanda is the creative producer
of the film.
