Private Project

You In This City, This City Inside You

A series of unanswered phone calls made by an unnamed narrator play over glimpses of everyday life unfolding across Bombay, in this intimate diary film.
We listen to the mundane reflections, dreams, fears and ambitions of a young migrant man, working as a cook in a hotel while looking at the city's multitudinous nature. When an altercation costs him his job, fear of an eviction leaves him uncertain of his survival in the city.
The film remains as an archive of Bombay's people, changing spaces and a lyrical reflection on the lives its migrant residents.

  • Amartya Ray
    Director
    Portraits : 2020
  • Amartya Ray
    Writer
  • PSBT India
    Producer
  • Amartya Ray
    Producer
  • Amartya Ray
    Cinematography
  • Tanvi Chitre
    Edit
  • Shashank Kothari
    Sound Design and Mix
  • Amritendu Mukherjee
    Narration
  • Tanvi Chitre
    Associate Director
  • Adheep Das
    Animations and Titles
  • Carlos Cipa
    Music
  • Nitish Rambhadran
    Music
  • Nishant Ramteke
    Music
  • Amartya Ray
    Music
  • Aman Bhatia
    Colorist
  • Tanvi Chitre
    DI
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    28 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 8, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    2,300 USD
  • 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 - Amartya Ray

Amartya is an independent filmmaker based out of Mumbai, India. A recent graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), he has has directed both fiction and non-fiction shorts which have been screened at international and national film festivals such as DIFF, IDSFFK, Kala Ghoda, Changing Perspectives Turkey etc.
He has secured grants to complete short documentaries from notable bodies like PSBT and Charles Correa Foundation.
His films deal with the intersectionality of the self and the modern world, exploration of the urban landscape and the ephemeral within the mundane.
He also writes poetry, which has been published digitally.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The City, with its people, streets, architecture, promenades, constructions and traffic is the landscape of the modern human condition. In my recent work, I have been excavating
the feelings of alienation, loneliness and apathy as well as the simultaneous romance and curiosity that a big city offers.

Part of Bombay's identity and history are the migrants who reside there - in chawls, in high rises and even the homeless. Being myself among the more privileged class of those migrants, I've noticed universalities that all carry - the search for a home, the dreams of a
“better life” and the fears of failing.

The film formed out of an urge to document Bombay in its present age, as it rapidly embraces a global modernity. To document its changing spaces and people, in a way that feels like intimate diary entries.
Our narrator (unnamed and thus universal) through his unanswered phone calls perhaps reaches out to the viewers asking them to become witness to his life and thoughts.

This film is my letter to Bombay and its migrant residents - filled with soft observations, moments of lyricism and a love for life.