Old sweethearts reconnect in the Indo-Bangladeshi lockdown short, Dure Thaka Kachher Manush

Dure Thaka Kachher Manush by Shahrear Polock is the first Indo-Bangladeshi lockdown project, presented by Tvwala Media. Featuring television and film actor Vikram Chatterjee and Bangladeshi artiste Rafiath Rashid Mithila, the film explores a long lost relationship amid the lockdown.

In the film, Dipto (Chatterjee) suddenly comes across a song posted by Bonya Rahman (Mithila) on Facebook. A renowned scientist in London, Dipto has now come back to Kolkata and is spending his days in isolation. The song posted by his former girlfriend 14 years ago, pushes him to write a letter to her.

Amidst doing all the household chores, Dipto puts down all his thoughts and old memories regarding Bonya on a paper, instead of asking directly for her contact number. He takes a photo of it and mails it to Bonya's old email address.

As Bonya receives the letter, she responds in a similar fashion from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her letter reveals a lot about their youthful romance which flourished in Shantiniketan. However, the reason why they separate is never disclosed. Eventually, they decide to speak on a video call. They chat and sing a Tagore song together.

The film doesn't indicate the direction their reconnection will take. Rather, calling each other becomes their only window for communication in the isolation of the lockdown.

In this simple narrative, the actors mostly narrate and emote as they have very few moments of conversation with each other. They do not dig up their past. Maybe, they simply prefer to stick to each other's virtual presence across the border during the lockdown.

The 12-minute film aims at facilitating the fund-raising initiative to support the daily wage-workers of the film industries in Dhaka and Kolkata, who have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.