Doctor-turned-filmmaker's movie 'Pinjar' draws analogy between caged birds and human soul

Kolkata, Nov 13 (PTI) Doctor-turned-filmmaker Rudrajit Roy has drawn an analogy between caged birds and how human soul is imprisoned by prejudices in his movie 'Pinjar' screened at the Bengali Panorama section of the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival.

The film has also been selected for the 16th Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Sydney, International Indian Film Festival of Toronto and the Asian Film Festival Barcelona.

Casting Mamata Shankar (in a special appearance), Joy Sengupta, among others, the caged birds in 'Pinjar' reflect the caged souls - shackled by superstition, feudalism and lack of true education in society, the director told reporters after the screening of the film.

"Pinjar is my personal protest against the cages we build—around birds, and around people. Through five characters navigating emotional, social, and spiritual confinement, I explore how we all give in to pre-existent algorithms," Roy said.

"This film is both a cry against cruelty and a quiet plea for compassion," he said.

Roy, a doctor by profession, told PTI his visits to Gosaba block in Sunderbans during 2014-2020 filled up his bagful of experiences interacting with the villagers at medical camps.

"As I heard their tales, their dreams, frustrations and crises, I got enriched as a person, as a human being, as a doctor, and somehow, somewhere these stories were imprinted in my mind. Many such tales of human struggle were incorporated in Pinjar, albeit with changed names in a fictional format," he added.

Advocating the need to back independent filmmakers like Roy, Joy Sengupta said, "It has many layers. At one level, it also shows how we are bound by everyday routine and life, and its repetitiveness and our desire to break free.

"At another level, it shows how domestic violence and abuse by people who are otherwise accepted by society can imprison a person who bears the brunt of abuse. Support films like Pinjar," Sengupta, a critically acclaimed actor, said.

The director said that the film also flags the issue of poaching of birds in rural areas and suburbs and calls for awareness.

"The caged Bird symbolises a caged human soul in an allegorical manner," the director said, adding it took him two years of research to develop the narrative.

The production aims at a theatrical release next year. PTI SUS RG