Kamaleshwar Mukherjee’s striking tale of a ‘hunger artist’

While his last ‘Good Night City’ didn’t enjoy a great outing at the Box Office, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee is all geared up for a short film inspired by

Franz Kafka

’s ‘

A Hunger Artist

’. Looks like short films have become a trend in Bengali industry with renowned directors and actors experimenting with challenging contents in the shorter format.

The story of this short film titled ‘

Limelight

’ sees a common man often staging dharnas and hunger strikes. This unique ability of the man forces his friend to suggest that he could make this into a profitable business where people can acknowledge his talent. It’s clearly a satirical take on the bandhs and hartals we have witnessed in recent times.

“My short film’s story is developed from Kafka’s one of the finest works. It’s about a man who makes his exceptional ability of starving a business model, a profession. But many suspect he is cheating. I won’t reveal much now. I have always planned to do something on Kafka’s extraordinary works. Let’s hope this one strikes the right chord,” revealed the director.

The short film has Ritwick Chakraborty, who worked under Kamaleshwar in ‘Good Night City’, Biswasnath Basu and Priyanka Mondal in pivotal roles. The shooting has already commenced for the satirical short film.

The critically acclaimed filmmaker was last seen in Indrashis Acharya’s latest release ‘Pupa’ and he is all praise of Indrashis and his way of cinematic treatment: I loved the way Indrashis weaved the screenplay. He always has a clear vision about what he wants. Be it the script, cinematography, shooting plans or the post-production works – his mind is always clear.”

The eminent director is also working on a drama ‘Playhouse’ with his theatre group Shailushik. It’s adopted from Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s ‘A Dangerous Game’. The script is by Padmanabha Dasgupta, who will also be seen in the lead role.