London-based lawyer-turned-filmmaker Kaushik Ray returns to the BFI Flare festival with his directorial venture ‘The Lime Green Shirt’, which premieres under the ‘Tender-hearted’ category next weekend at the British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank, London.
Jointly produced by Ray’s production house, Taran Tantra Telefilms, with Neeraj Churi alongside Berlinale Talent Pooja Chauhan, the 16-minute bilingual short in English and Bengali revolves around Saraswati Sinha (Lillete Dubey) – a retired and widowed doctor – who lives alone in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Desperate to reconnect with her estranged son Akash (Kush Khanna), Saraswati travels to London to stay with him.
A successful trader with a stylish penthouse apartment, Akash seems to have it all. Yet, beneath the veneer of success, he is plagued by deep-seated traumas and crippling self-doubt, which he blames on his strict upbringing by an unforgiving mother who demanded academic greatness at the expense of his passion for music.
As the unintended consequences of her authoritarian parenting become painfully clear, Saraswati realises she must confront her fears and transgenerational traumas if she wants to rebuild a relationship with the son she barely knows.
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Inspired by a true incident in the filmmaker’s life, the film was shot last year with two original songs written by Kaushik Ray and the lead actor Kush Khanna. The poetic storytelling is inspired by social realism of filmmakers like Mike Leigh and the humanism/colour palettes of Satyajit Ray.
Kaushik Ray said: “The Lime Green Shirt in many ways is my own origin story. At its heart is the kernel of my own truth, albeit its retelling is fictionalised. I am fascinated by the balance of fact and fiction, and have always found myself drawn to human drama that explores the nuance and space between the black and white.
“Life is filled with contradictions, and I embrace them. I look for the rainbows in the grey. As a filmmaker it is essential to me that I to equip my wider team with female and QPOC [queer people of colour] cast and crew, with a deliberate view to bring diversity into storytelling.”
The BFI Flare festival holds a special place in his heart after the first short he co-produced, ‘Muhafiz (The Protector)’, premiered there in 2022 – when he met the producer of ‘The Lime Green Shirt’.
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“So to have my first film as writer-director debut there, feels super special. Towards the end of my legal career, I started supporting queer Indian filmmakers in telling interesting stories, as a producer. My film is based in London (as am I), so it's sort of a homecoming for me,” adds Ray.
His feature debut ‘A Life A Rose’ is being produced by French production house Backup Media and Bombay Berlin Film Productions Limited, with award-winning Indian actress Deepti Naval (‘Lion’) in the main role.
*Info: BFI Flare 2024
