Portrait | Award Winning Short Film

Portrait | Award Winning Short Film | By. Kunal Chowdhury

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Күн бұрын

The story is set in 1995, Calcutta. During that time, India was introducing mobile phone service for the first time. A small photo studio in a dingy lane next to the main road. One man comes rushing in to take his passport photo. The man says that he is going to Dubai for work, so he needs a set of passport photos as soon as possible. Inside the studio, we see Prateek the photographer. The man was sweating heavily, Prateek asked him to wipe his forehead. He could not find his handkerchief. Prateek gives him a tissue to wipe his face and asks him to relax. During the click, he asked him to keep his Chin-up, and the man followed his instruction. We see through the viewfinder, a serious, determined face, and then we hear the sound of the shutter click and a freeze-frame of his portrait. The next morning, we see Prateek opening up the studio. Within a few moments, we see a kid with his mother come in to take a portrait photo for his school. She asked Prateek to make her look good. Prateek smiled and asked the mother to wait outside. We see Prateek put his eyes on the viewfinder and click her photo. We see him sitting lazily and looking at old albums. Prateek finds a single portrait photo there. From the background, it suggests that the photo was taken in this studio. Suddenly a young couple comes in. By their appearance, it looks like they just got married. He clicks their photo. Prateek feels that his life is just the same as the fishes inside the aquarium he has in his studio. Every person who comes here is like a fish roaming inside his own aquarium. Prateek waits for the customers to come. In the late evening, a family comes in. First, the kid is getting clicked for a portrait. Then they clicked a family portrait together and afterward, the man insisted his old mother take a single portrait. She says why? Son insisted his mother to get the photograph done. But why? Can the photographer click the shot?
A Film By
Kunal Chowdhury (Totem)
Cinematography
Solanki Chakraborty
Edit
Rudra Ranjan Dasgupta
Kunal Chowdhury
Production Design
Sromona Ghosh
Kunal Chowdhury
Costume Design
Kunal Chowdhury
Anusmita Guha
Sound Designer
Soustav Naskar
Original Music
Bhishmapratim Chakraborty
Associate Producer (HumaraMovie)
Abhishek Gautam
Vinay Shinde
Executive Producer (KOLKATA)
Kunal Chowdhury
Saptarshi Chatterjee
Produced by
Vinay Mishra
Pretty Ali
Pallavi Rohatgi
Rghavana Bharadwaj
Kunal Chowdhury
Co-Produced by
Mauro Talamonti
DI Colourist Conformist
Amir Mondal
Color- Grading Studio
Filmwallah, Kolkata
#portraitphotography
#kolkata #photography #portrait

Пікірлер: 15

@TheEnglishNut 2 ай бұрын

Very nice. Captures a disappearing part of our landscape. Loved the music/audio. And the ending was poignant.

@nareshdev4119 2 ай бұрын

Down-to-earth creativity with the nostalgia of the 1990s. Simple script but a deep meaning with the best performance as Prateek. In fact, it took me to 1995 when we used to click with 120 rolls and get postcard-size colored prints from newly installed color printers instead of developing in a room with red light on the back of the shop as shown here. Deserves awards as well as nominations due to its subtlety. Congrats!!

@hazemusic_ 2 ай бұрын

Beautiful!!

@pinakiadhikary2005 2 ай бұрын

khub sundor hoiche. keep creating good films ♥

@sudhirdutta7364 2 ай бұрын

Bhut badiya púrañe din yaad a gye😢

@DeepTalks89 2 ай бұрын

Portrait: A film by Kunal Chowdhury A critical appreciation : Today I took the honour to watch the films online premiere and would like to share a few thoughts. First, the setting of the film has been established inside a photo studio of Kolkata. I missed a few shots of Kolkata in the film, it gives an audience a fulfilling sense of the place where the story is taking place. And when it is previously mentioned that it is 1995’s Kolkata, I really felt disappointed not to see a single shot of College Street or North Calcutta. The art direction is fabulous all over. Cinematography with lighting is amazing and really helped me not to get bored with long takes in a single shot. BGM and Colour grading could be a little better to catch the emotions and time of the play. Dubbing and folly mixing was a little novice-like. Unique or attractive face doesn’t make an actor. I felt Actor’s were a little amateurish, except the old uncle of the photographer and the old lady. Found a very odd voice acting/dubbing that isn’t quite matching with the acting of Actors. Editing is good, but I found a few edit jerks. For instance, the Photographer was looking at a girls photo with two hands on the table but immediate after shot shows the person taking the photo on his left hand held high. Finally, Directorial Team did great, but more consciousness on the details would be enjoyable. The Last voice over concludes the film with a reflection of Shakespeare, “And Every fair from fair sometimes declines. By chance or natures changing course untrimm’d.” With time everything changes be it emotions, relationships or even the reason of capturing a “Portrait”.