Indie Director Brings Delhi's Gritty Realities to IFFK

In a homecoming of sorts, indie director Sanju Surendran's film "If On A Winter's Night" is set to premiere at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) this year. Surendran, who has been attending the festival since his college days, is excited to showcase his work to his hometown audience.

The film, a mix of Malayalam and Hindi, revolves around the lives of a few Malayalis living in Delhi. Surendran aims to explore the city in a raw, ordinary way, moving away from the postcard version and focusing on how ordinary people actually live there. The narrative follows a couple who have just moved to Delhi and are living in a rented house, with various sub-stories adding layers to the film.

Surendran cites the classic film "Musafir," directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and written by Ritwik Ghatak, as an inspiration for his work. While the two films share a focus on life around a rented house, Surendran's film takes a completely different approach, with the space itself serving as an integral part of the narrative, almost like a character.

The director believes that the story would not have worked in any other city, as Delhi's unique character and dynamics are essential to the film's exploration of themes like displacement, friendships, and relationships. Surendran hopes that the IFFK platform will help secure at least a limited theatrical distribution for the film, as he sees film festivals as crucial in promoting a fearless kind of cinema.