After a successful world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival 2025 in the Perspective section, the Bengali film Baksho Bondi – Shadowbox featuring Tillotama Shome, is all set to open the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2025. The film has been produced by Tilotama Shome and Jim Sarbh.
It marks the directorial debut of Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi and Baksho Bondi features Tillotama Shome as Maya. The film is set against the backdrop of a dusty Kolkata suburb, weaving a powerful narrative of love, resilience, and the quiet strength of a working woman navigating her everyday life.
The Opening Night screening is scheduled for August 14 in Melbourne, setting the tone for the festival’s celebration of bold, layered, and deeply human stories from India.
Reflecting on the film’s journey, Tillotama Shome said: “Baksho Bondi is incredibly close to my heart. Playing Maya was a lesson in listening to silences, in discovering strength in small acts, and in understanding how quiet resilience shapes women’s lives in a world that often overlooks them.
"After Berlin, bringing Maya’s story to Melbourne feels special because of the incredible strength and spirit of inclusion that radiates from Mitu, the festival director of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. This film is a love letter to working women, to dusty afternoons in Barrackpore and to the courage that quietly persists even when no one is watching.”
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Mitu Bhowmick Lange, Director of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, adds, “We are honoured to open IFFM 2025 with Baksho Bondi – Shadowbox, a film that exemplifies the strength of Indian independent cinema while touching on themes that are deeply personal and globally relatable. Tillotama Shome’s performance as Maya is nothing short of extraordinary, and Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi have crafted a tender, honest, and visually stunning film that resonates with the spirit of resilience and hope. It is exactly the kind of cinema we are proud to showcase at IFFM, and we are excited for Australian audiences to experience this gem on our Opening Night.”
Baksho Bondi – Shadowbox further solidifies IFFM’s commitment to showcasing stories that are rooted in lived realities while embracing the power of cinematic storytelling, making it a perfect start for the 2025 edition.
IFFM in its 16th year stands as the largest celebration of Indian film outside India, and this year's award contenders reflect the depth, diversity, and dynamism of Indian storytelling across languages and platforms.
Supported by the Victorian Government, the festival will run from August 14 to 24, with the highly anticipated IFFM Awards Night set for August 15, honouring cinematic excellence across film and OTT categories.
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