Dusk presents sex workers as professionals, says director Ujjal Paul

Ujjal Paul’s debut short film Dusk was screened at 26^th Kolkata International Film Festival and also won at the competition this year.

The 23-minute film, which was shot in Kolkata, presents an alternative take on prostitution.

Paul, an engineering student, made the documentary film Mela Khela before he finished his studies. He also worked as a production controller at the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) before he embarked on the journey on making Dusk, his first work of fiction.

The film was shot and completed in 2019.

Dusk explores how sex workers are looked down upon in society. “Through my film, I wanted to convey that often sex workers earn their living like people in every other profession. They are respectable professionals as well,” said Paul.

The film zeroes in on a few moments in a prostitute’s life in an attempt to show that sex work doesn’t always leave one feeling victimised.

In once scene, the young woman is seen fixing her make-up after satisfying a customer while the next one waits patiently in line. However, the latter is more than a patron and the woman shares a special bond with him.

“In the film, you can see the girl to be enjoying a sense of freedom out of the alleys of the red-light area. Basically, the film has been conceptualised from her perspective,” said Paul.

Dusk is also the first fiction film to be shot at Sonagachi, Asia's largest red-light district.

“We went there to do our research before making the film and also spoke to a lot of people there. We received a lot of help from a local club and a police station while shooting the film. We had to follow the rule of taking consent even before shooting stills of the sex workers there,” said Paul. However, his job got easier as a lot of the sex workers came forward and later they attended the dubbing sessions as well.

Paul also took inspiration from a friend’s personal experience with sex workers, which he blended into the narrative.

“I honestly did not expect the film to receive such positive reactions. Now I am even more hopeful regarding moving forward with the film and screening it at other film festivals as well,” said Paul.