Four Indian film directors, Mahesh Manjrekar, Pradeep Sarkar, Priyadarshan and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, who have each won the National Award, have joined forces to shoot “Invisible Masks.” The adaptation of four short stories, the film tackles homosexuality, mental illness, people leading double lives, and other hot button social issues in India.
The film is a portmanteau, without connecting or recurring elements, and is currently in advanced post-production. Each of the directors developed and produced their own section independently.
The overall film is produced and financed by Venus Worldwide Entertainment, and partly-financed by Armaan Ventures. A major OTT platform is expected to give the completed work a release in India and elsewhere, without recourse to festival or theatrical outings. Suchhanda Chatterjee is set as the co-producer.
Roy Chowdhury, who previously directed “Pink” directs a section about mental illness “The story of this short film is, I feel, very relevant to our present times, where everyone seems to be playing someone and getting played. The theme (of betrayal) inspired me to think of the story of a married couple and explore the usually unspoken shades of grey in every relationship. I have attempted to make a psychological thriller revolving around the lives of the current generation, where people have become lonelier and increasingly dependent on technology to feel secure and happy,” he said in a statement.
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“I am taking the opportunity to reveal a few facts of life, which even in this day and age, make people cringe,” said Sarkar (“Parineeta,” “Lafangey Parindey”). His story tackles arranged marriage and being gay.
“My story revolves around a young man and an older woman. It was Suchhanda’s story which I developed and made my own,” said Priyadarshan (“Geethanjali”). “Sometimes people pretend to be someone else and act in a different way, everyone carries an invisible mask,” said Mahesh Manjrekar, an actor director who appeared in “Slumdog Millionaire” and in Netflix’s Indian original series “Selection Day.”