Experiencing Interruptions?

Eunuch and the Flute Player

Parimal is born a boy, but there has always been another identity hidden within Parimal's male physical appearance. The only way out for him is to escape from his parents, his family, and his neighborhood in search of a world that did not seem so unidentifiable.

In his quest, Parimal reaches a new city, Kolkata where he is welcomed by a transgender shelter. And Parimal soon becomes Puti. There, he meets Madhu and falls in love with him. As Madhu discovers more about Puti's physicality, he wonders how he could feel attracted to a woman who has a male body? Were these things even possible in reality? Will their love survive the guillotine of societal barriers?

The film is a document that frames this experience of an invisible community, rarely portrayed in the arena of Indian mainstream cinema. The fabric of Ganguly's film moves beyond the binaries of a linear and complex narrative and instead brings forth a breathtaking ruthlessness that mirrors the hidden lives and traumas of the Transgender/ Hijra/ Intersex/ gender non-conforming communities.

The film embodies the visceral experience of these communities battling centuries of prejudice and taboo. The community's lived realities of being caught between questions of vice and virtue, desire and rejection sustains the film's body narrative - rather precariously - avoiding a moral position - yet examining the very contours that makes taking these positions complicated.

In a society that largely considers trans bodies as dustbins to dump its traumas and miscarriages of justice, the film signals a language of change that can be used to build a narrative of resistance.

It is inherent in the power of cinema to precipitate universal conversations - which Kaushik Ganguly's film does.

At the 65th National Film Awards the film won four Awards including, Special Jury Award (Feature Film) and National Film Award for Best Actor for Riddhi Sen.

  • Kaushik Ganguly
    Director
  • Kaushik Ganguly
    Writer
  • Ritwik Chakraborty
    Key Cast
    "Madhu"
  • Riddhi Sen
    Key Cast
    "Puti"
  • Acropolis Entertainment [IN]
    Producer
  • Subhajit Singha
    Film Editor
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Nagarkirtan
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 55 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 22, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Bengali
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Arri Alexa
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 65th National Film Awards
    New Deli
    India
    Special Jury Award (Feature Film) , Best Actor for Riddhi Sen
  • 71st Cannes Film Festival
    Cannes
    France
    Indian delegation to 71st Cannes Film Festival
  • SAARC film fest 2019
    Colombo
    Sri Lanka
    'Best Feature Film', 'Best Director', 'Best Actor' and 'Best Original Score'
Distribution Information
  • Acropolis Entertainment [IN]
    Country: India
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Kaushik Ganguly

Kaushik Ganguly was born in Kolkata on 4 August 1968 to noted instrumentalist Sunil
Ganguly. He attended Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur and later Jadavpur
Universitywhere he worked on a degree in Bengali literature. [3] While at university he started
a theatre troupe with his future wife actress Churni Ganguly and Suman Mukhopadhyay (who
would later become a film director). In 1987, Ganguly began working as a screenwriter
for Tollywood films. In 1995, he moved to ETV Bangla to direct telefilms like Ushnatar
Janye, Ulka and Aatithi. [4] These telefilms incorporated elements like lesbianism and sex
determination that had not been depicted in Bengali television productions before. [2]
In 2004 Ganguly directed his first feature film Waarish starring Debashree Roy and Sabyasachi
Chakrabarty. [4] It was a commercial failure, [5] but he continued in cinema with Shunyo E
Buke (2005) starring Kaushik Sen, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Churni Ganguly. It tells the story
of an artist's unrealistic expectations regarding his wife's personal appearance. [6] It was
screened at London's Tongues on Fire Film Festival in February 2004 and at Osian's Cinefan
Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema. [7] [8] In 2009 he released the low-budget comedy Brake
Fail inspired by Hrishikesh Mukherjee films. [9] His next film Jackpot starring Koel
Mallick and Hiran did very well at the box office. He cast director Rituparno Ghosh as the lead
in his 2010 film Arekti Premer Golpo about a gay documentary filmmaker and a
transgender Jatra actor. It won awards at the I-View Film Festival and the International Film
Festival of India. [3] [10] On 9 September 2011 his latest film Rang Milanti released to positive
reviews. Ganguly's next film Laptop starring Rahul Bose, Ananya Chatterjee, Rajesh
Sharma, Saswata Chatterjee, Churni Ganguly and Gaurav Chakrabarty was selected for
screening at the 42nd International Film Festival of India. [11]
Ganguly's Shabdo (2013) won the 60th National Film Awards for Best Feature Film in Bengali.
[12] He won the best director award at the 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in
November 2013 for Apur Panchali.At the 64th National Film Awards 2017, Kaushik
Ganguly's Bishorjan bagged the Best Bengali Film award.

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