Short film on lockdown-trapped child earns applause internationally

The idea struck Piyana Bandyopadhyaya when, during the 2020 lockdown, her seven-year-old daughter began to fondly recall the time with her best buddies in school: how they used to have fun travelling in the school bus, share tiffin and crack jokes in class under the care of teachers.

“What a pity, I thought,” Ms. Bandyopadhyaya said, “A seven-year-old child is reminiscing about childhood!” Thus began the journey of The Light of Other Days — her short film articulating a child’s desire to break free from captivity during the COVID-19 pandemic and enjoy childhood with friends, teachers and nature — which went on to be selected for the New York-based Virtual South Asian Film Festival late last year and thus earned a release on Movie Saints.

“We initially went the festival route and then went for a public release on YouTube on January 26 this year as we thought that Republic Day was the right day when it could be shared with a wider audience. In our Constitution, Right to Education is a fundamental right and every child has the right to be educated,” said the Kolkata-based advertising professional about her 10-minute debut film.

According to Ms. Bandyopadhyaya, the idea, once it struck her, made her restless and she got started almost right away. “I was in Kharagpur at the time. I reached out to my director of photography, Shubhodeep Dey, on Facebook. He assured me that he can put together a team on short notice. I then discussed the idea with my editor Carroll Chiramel, who is based out of Canada. He advised me that I should ask the child actor [Yalini Sharma] to enact exactly what she feels. I think that turned out to be the best thing for the film. She depicted the pain so naturally thatit has been able to draw tears out of the audience,” she said.

Even though the film was shot in a day, post-production took a long time and took place in different parts of the world due to the pandemic. For example, the background music, composed by the internationally-acclaimed Pravin Mani, and the editing were both done in Canada.

Even though Ms. Bandyopadhyaya was armed with permission from the Deputy Regional Manager of South-Eastern Railway and the Principal of St. Agnes School — her alma mater — the shoot posed its own set of challenges.

“We had several constraints due to the pandemic. Also, as an independent filmmaker,I had budget constraints. Above all, it was important to keep the child and the crew safe. So, we exercised all caution and kept the story around one character. Even the milkman in the film who comes near the child actor was her father,” recalled Ms. Bandyopadhyaya.

“Managing the wonderful, enthusiastic and curious crowd of Kharagpur was a challenging and hilarious experience for the crew. I remember they would jointly say ‘cut’ along with me at the right time!” she said.

Ms. Bandyopadhyaya said the film was well received by audiences all over North America through their online festivals. “They even had a few educators comment about how much they missed being in school with their students.Schools are wonderful platforms where the social skills of a child are nurtured. I believe that even with all the right intentions, the warmth of personal interaction through love and admonishments has diminished in online classes. It is a loss not only for the child but the entire society,” she said.

The festival organisers, she said, found The Light of Other Days to be a “poignant commentary” on innocence lost due to the virus. The release of the film coincided with the decision of the West Bengal government to reopen schools and colleges from February 3. But since students of only Classes 8 and upwards have returned to their schools, Ms. Bandyopadhyaya’s daughter, only in Class 2, continues to stay home until a decision is taken regarding children her age.

“As a mother, I do feel worried about children not going to school, about their addiction to mobile phones, their superficial existence on social platforms — these will have far-reaching adverse effects on our next generations,” she said.