Rudrajit Roy’s Pinjar to have Indian premiere at the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival

Director Rudrajit Roy’s independent film Pinjar which won accolades in major film festivals, is all set to have its Indian premiere at the Kolkata International Film Festival

Rudrajit Roy's Pinjar to have Indian premiere at Kolkata International Film Festival

A still from Rudrajit Roy's Pinjar

Published on:

22 Oct 2025, 5:30 am

Updated on:

22 Oct 2025, 5:30 am

2 min read

Rudrajit Roy’s independent film, Pinjar is all set to be screened at the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival this year. After doing the rounds of International film festivals like 16th Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Sydney, International Indian Film Festival of Toronto, Asian Film Festival of Barcelona, it will premiere at the Competition Section of Bengali Panorama.

Independent film Pinjar by Rudrajit Roy to have its Indian premiere at the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival

Helmed by an envious star-cast, it features Mamata Shankar, Joy Sengupta, Satakshi Nandy, Sagnik Mukherjee, Samiul Alam, Mallika Banerjee, Ishan Mazumder, Tathagata Mukherjee and Swastidipa Rabidas.

In Roy’s words, “Pinjar is my personal protest against the cages we build—around birds, and around people. Through five characters navigating emotional, social, and spiritual confinement, I explore how we all give in to pre-existent algorithms. This film is both a cry against cruelty and a quiet plea for compassion.”

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Pinjar is all set to screen during the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival

A still from Rudrajit Roy's Pinjar

Coming to the narrative of the film, this debut Bengali feature named Pinjar literally translates to being caged. Keeping this in mind, the storyline follows five individuals – Jhimli, Paromita, Shefali, Tarak and Iqbal, who are fighting for freedom and survival from these invisible cages which also stand as metaphors of societal boundaries and restrictions. The movie draws a haunting parallel between how birds and humans are trapped in cages while most people stand quietly and witness the situation. Pinjar explores themes like patriarchy, poverty, illiteracy, domestic violence and religion. It also highlights how in due course of time society, rather community starts normalizing both cruelty and violence, and submission.

Using bird poaching as a metaphoric realism, the movie was developed for over two years with a screenplay by Rahul Roye, cinematography by Manas Bhattacharya and music by Ratul Shankar. The 31st edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival is scheduled to take place between November 6-13.

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