In a unique tale on the fast disappearing motifs of the period city, the uniquitous brick-hued post-boxes and the places where you send your money order from, 'Post Kolkata' is the second Independent genre film to be released officially in Bengal.
"Yes, as we meander through the alleys of the city we witness the disappearing acts of symbols which defined the era of even late 80s," director Debarati Gupta says.
"I am shocked to see signs of the postal outlets giving way to cyber cafes and courier service holes.. Ever consider how many red post boxes, dotting every corner of the city couple of years back, have done the vanishing act. Ever seen how the crowd has thinned in post offices," the director reasons.
"Kolkata, as a colonial city, boasts of a history that is much newer than the cities like Delhi, Lucknow, Agra or Varanasi. Still it has got some quirkness that makes it different from others. But where exactly this strangeness lies? Is it the people of Kolkata or its weird history, or the vanishing culture which the most Kolkatans are extremely proud of?," the director, having earlier made a group theatre-themed film Hoichoi starring Paoli Dam, said.
"I undertook a personal journey putting my eyes and mind behind the camera. At the beginning of the journey I was quite certain where exactly I wanted to place my camera but in the course of the trip I discovered the camera was trying to design its own voyage. And why not? After all its Kolkata! A camera is always delighted to frame its every nooks and corners. So sometimes the camera found itself at the rooftop of an old buildmg," she says.
From the post boxes and post offices to ''parar rok' (the sitting place for gossping in front of road) we are losing a part of us," she said.
Asked for reasons to slot it in independent genre, Debararti reasons, "This beng an experimental flick, I feel youngsters fit the bll perfectly and any star quotient would just impede its spontaneity.
