The saying, 'All's well that ends well' surely rings true for filmmaker Abhiroop Basu. After literally fighting tooth and nail for getting his much-acclaimed short, Meal, starring Adil Hussain and Ratnaboli Bhattacharya a space in any of the OTT platforms, it finally got selected to be released and shown on the renowned MUBI on February 16 for a month, followed by an official release in Hotstar.
Meal has already travelled to over 50 international film festivals and 65 cities around the globe and winning eight awards in several categories including three best film awards. After winning appreciation and laurels across the globe, it will run till March 16 on Mubi, as a part of its distinct model of showcasing cult, classics and the best of independent cinema from around the world.
"We got a negative response from almost every other leading OTT platform who thought the film was 'too depressing' and thus 'not suitable' for their audience and that they were looking for some 'light-hearted content'. But I couldn't be happier, because it all led to MUBI finally picking it up and it feels all too surreal to see our little film in the midst of the greats," tells a visibly excited Abhiroop.
Indeed, Meal is being showcased alongside Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Mili, Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker and Awara, V Shantaram's Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani, Gulzar's Koshish, Shekhar Kapoor's Masoom, K Asif's Mughal-E-Azam and Shakti Samanta's The Great Gambler besides others.
Meal is a hard-hitting tale of ongoing violence in the current political context, shown very subtly through domestic violence and a dysfunctional family. It's in a way has also subtly attacked the extreme rightist beliefs and faith.
Basu has already completed another long short film called Laali with Pankaj Tripathi that's ready for the festival rounds and is currently shooting Sisyphus starring Tanika Basu and Ashwani Kumar, which will be his first full-length feature.