A Sonnet To The Hushed Times is a homage to Charlie Chaplin, says director Aneek Chaudhuri

Filmmaker Aneek Chaudhuri has completed shooting his silent film A Sonnet To The Hushed Times. The film is his tribute to the silent era of the legendary actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and stars Usha Banerjee and Avijit De.

The film has been shot on a mobile phone by Chaudhuri himself. In a press note, the makers said, “Aneek Chaudhuri has been working relentlessly to revive silent cinema and this is an effort to glorify Chaplin’s films and focus on the depth of their characters.

"A Sonnet To The Hushed Times is a film where the characters of Chaplin’s films are dealing in the real world and struggling to find a new mode of occupation as talkies have superseded silent films.”

Explaining his reason for making the film, Chaudhuri said in a statement, “This is going to be a very personal film and all the artistes are involved in a collaborative process. It has taken us months of preparation. I myself took a break from everything to prepare for this.

"For me, Charles Chaplin is one of the most impactful human beings we have had. He shaped a lot of people’s minds (including mine); it was a conscious decision to be audacious and work with his characters, more because we are thinking this to be a homage to the great man. This is out of love.”

He added, “The film has been shot on a OnePlus phone. It was a different experience as I had never shot a film with a phone. The whole team was very supportive; when you are doing something out of the box, you need that. Thankfully, I got like-minded people, which made the thing easier.

"With Usha, I have worked before and she has been involved in the process since the film's inception. Avijit, I spotted during a year-old audition and was quite impressed with what I saw.”

A Sonnet To The Hushed Times is produced by Tubelight Entertainment, which also produced Chaudhuri’s previous film Jharokh, which is currently doing the rounds of film festivals.