Private Project

The Good Wife

The time was December, 1992 -a time of great upheaval, tension, sorrow and uncertainty in the old and ageing city of Kolkata (then Calcutta), eastern India.

Inspired by stories that have cropped up during our childhood & produced and part-written by two female artists, 'The Good Wife', is an award winning short film, that revolves around the highs, lows, joys, defeat & triumphs of a woman in the course of a single day; a woman whose character we have not given a name. The character is a woman whom we have not named because she is an epitome of an ancient and seemingly eternal typecast, ‘The Good Wife’ and thus can be anyone.

The juxtaposition of the two words ‘Good’ and ‘Wife’ has over the centuries become an ubiquitous enigma, used by patriarchs, matriarchs, religion and political systems, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, men, women, etcetera, etcetera to mould, manipulate, malign, humiliate, kill and even love those women; those women, who have unfortunately been crowned with this undesired title.

The story of this film takes place 27 yrs back in the city of Kolkata in 1992 during the period of great uncertainty. This is a story of a simple woman who travels through a curfew lit city to get her husband’s favourite food to keep him happy in all the possible ways as according to the conditioning of being a good wife.
The story traces the joys and sorrows and triumphs and disappointments through the happening of a single day in the life of one such housewife, thus through her journey we have explored the immense strength inside a woman termed as good wife, maybe not the strengths atypical with chest thumping toxic masculinity but a more subtler inner feminine strength

We not only transport the audience visually to an era 25 years back, but also, retrospectively throw light on how little (or how much) has changed over the last two and half decades in the lives of these seemingly ‘Good Wives’.

We hope our film, ‘The Good Wife,’ is finally able to demystify the plight of this large section of society that exists even today and finally bring forth to the world, their voices, which till now have been echoing in the inside chambers of their hearts.

  • Prataya Saha
    Director
    Nirjan, Ardha, Talk Me Not, Dreamer, Dreamer 2
  • Prataya Saha
    Writer
    Nirjan, Talk Me Not, Dreamer, Dreamer 2, Dear Papa, Anna's Weekend, Thirst
  • Benu Bina Banik
    Writer
    Nirjan, Dear Papa, Ardha
  • Anshulika Kapoor
    Producer
    Nirjan, Dear Papa, Talk Me Not, Dreamer 2, Piu ka Pen, Chitraa
  • Jai Mangal Sharma
    Colorist
    Tarzan, Mulan, Mickey's club house, Pokiri, Okkadu, Sainikudu, Aatagara, Krish 3, Om Shanti Om
  • Anshulika Kapoor
    Key Cast
    Talk Me Not, Dreamer 2, Piu ka Pen, Chitraa, Laapata, Mayabaazar
  • Raihan Sidhiq
    Editor
    Sweet Dreams
  • Subha Dey
    Cinematographer
    Ashtami, Swar o swati, UNICEF documentary, Bonolota
  • Anshulika Kapoor
    Art Direction
    Talk Me Not, Dreamer 2, Piu ka Pen, Chitraa, Laapata, Mayabaazar
  • Benu Bina Banik
    Art Direction
    Nirjan, Dear Papa, Ardha
  • Benu Bina Banik
    Assistant Director
    Ardha, Nirjan, Dear Papa
  • Sandeep Sugunan
    Music
    Koothara
  • Priyadarshan Subramanian
    Sound Design
  • Nishanth Palle
    Sound Design
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    drama, thriller, suspense
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 4, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    1,200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Bengali, Hindi
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Prataya Saha

Films:

Prataya Saha is an independent filmmaker, Tedx performer, theatre director & photographer based out of Bangalore, India.

Prataya's directorial debut was Anna's Weekend in 2016 which got selected in festivals in US and China. Thirst, his second film, was selected as official entry in the 14th International Independent film festival, Dhaka; one of the oldest running film festivals in Asia. He is now 7 short films old with his films selected in 30 film festivals around the world including the prestigious Oaxaca Film Fest, Bengaluru International Film Festival, Woodpecker International Film Festival, the Best of India Film Festival, SFCC and Cardiff International Film Festival.

Most of his films revolve around issues faced by women or have a strong female protagonist aided by a crew where women hold important positions like writer, asst. director, cinematographer or producer.

A record three of his films have been accepted in Viddsee.com, South East Asia’s largest online independent film curators.

His 5th film, ‘Dreamer 2’ was screened by Shamiana Shorts, India's only dedicated and fastest growing short film club that showcases the finest shorts from India and all over the world, including Oscar nominated /winning films.

Over the years his work has been extensively covered and published in most National Newspapers including Times of India, The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle, Deccan Herald, The New Indian Express & The Economic Times.

Theatre:

Prataya is also into theatre.
In 2018, he toured with a play called Chitraa, which is a modernized adaptation of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's play, that he had translated and co-directed.

Chitraa, had been critically acclaimed by the audience and had run packed houses in the cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad, India.

Prataya recently assistant directed and designed the sound for a theatre performance in TEDx Bangalore.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

'The Good Wife' is a very honest effort to bring out the patriarchal construct of society and the subliminal conditioning of women to lead a 'Good' life, through the narrative of one woman. The lives of my mother, aunts and grandmothers that I have watched first hand as I was growing up in the 90s were a major influence in making the film in the first place.

Produced under an extremely tight budget with a crew of around 10, this film has majorly been shot in Kolkata and its outskirts. It has taken us 11 months to make this 16 minute short as we have tried to work our way around obstacles ranging from funding, permissions, scheduling, etc.

It was only because of the belief and passion of the core crew and individual freelancers that has made this project come to completion.

The treatment of the film, by itself, is quite unique. The use of sound as a medium to enhance the story has been explored at length in this movie. Since the story is set in the past, I had tried to create a sense of nostalgia through detailed visual and auditory elements. Every scene, every cut and every sound has meaning and a sense of purpose in the film and I hope the audience takes away the subliminal social messages.