Private Project

Mail

A young magazine editor going through his daily mundane work comes across a submission, which is too good but too long. He mails her to shorten things up. The reply he gets to his mail affects him deeply and changes his course of life. An allegorical short film that portrays how our own curiosity and innocence often lead us to dark territories in this bad, bad world.

  • Samman Roy
    Director
    Aastha, Before The Rains
  • Samman Roy
    Writer
  • Abhijit Baruah
    Producer
  • Anshu Bach
    Key Cast
    "Vardaan"
  • Titas Bhowmick
    Key Cast
    "Shruti/Boss"
  • Indrashish Ghosh
    Key Cast
    "Soumon"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    thriller, dark comedy, neo noir
  • Runtime:
    23 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 25, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Bengali
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Samman Roy

Samman Roy is an ex-software engineer who quit his job in a reputed MNC in 2016 to make a career in filmmaking. Samman has worked for renowned media production house TVF and worked as a freelancer for various ad films, music videos, and short films. He has made ad films for some reputed companies. He has also been the editor of a web magazine for a couple of years and has also written a book that is slated to release soon. He has made several short films like "Aastha", "Before The Rains", "Scream" etc. His short films have won awards at different international film festivals and are streaming on popular OTT platforms in India.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Mail is a film that crosses over genres of neo-noir, dark comedy and plays with elements of a conventional thriller. Vardaan is a youth in his early phases of professional life where he is often subjected to exploitation of various kinds. It also captures the playfulness of his youth, as well as the purity of his heart when he is perturbed by an mail from one of the authors of his magazine. Even though he has not met this person in his life, his heart aches for her plight.
The film tries to deal with the theme of how a young heart grapples with the transition from the innocence and compassion of youth to the ruthlessness and dangers of the selfish world.
The visuals and sound design have been done keeping in mind the ongoing dilemma in Vardaan's heart. He moves from lights to shadows - a visual representation of how we see the characters around him present different shades of themselves in front of us.
The film ends with a quote from F.T.McKinstry - "Innocence crafts its own demise." It's not our pessimistic take on life; just a reminder that what a rarity innocence is turning into in today's life.