Shadow Hill: Of Spirits And Men

Source: Kindling Pictures

‘Shadow Hill: Of Spirits And Men’ concept image

Set in Goa and exploring the quirkiness of ordinary people involved in both a mysterious treasure hunt and a love triangle, Shadow Hill: Of Spirits And Men is a darkly humorous drama project being readied by director Bosco Bhandarkar.

Presented at the Waves Film Bazaar Co-Production Market in Goa this week, the project is also the debut title to emerge from Kindling Pictures, the burgeoning production label headed by Kiran Rao, director of last year’s Oscar submission by India, Laapataa Ladies.

“What really drew me to the project is that Goa is one of those places that people associate with pristine beaches and fabulous holidays,” says Rao. “But that is a way of life under pressure, a lot of change and devastation because of development here.

“Though the film does not really talk about that explicitly, it is about a man searching for the remains of his daughter under a landslide and [in the process] alluding to the kinds of destruction that the state goes through. But we use the subtitle ‘Of Spirits and Men’ because the film takes this almost whimsical treasure hunt approach.”

The two male protagonist roles are an old sailor and a younger man who is a grave digger. Their story is also twisted with that of a woman bar owner, whose role is to provide cues and cryptic lessons to the two men. She also sings in Portuguese and Konkani.

“I love the fact that it’s going to be in [local language] Konkani,” says Rao. “There’s a lot of the characters that you would encounter if you went to a local bar and heard legends and ghost stories.

“What also excited me was that it is not a very plot-driven sort of film, not a ticking clock sort of story, but an open-ended journey that we want to shoot on film and mix media like black-and-white and colour. A proper arthouse film.”

The project’s script is being finalised by Gautam Pemmaraju, who is attending a residency in Berlin. Rao says that casting the male leads will take place next year, once the screenplay is locked.

The stated production budget is $500,000, with a quarter of that in place as the director, Rao and producer Tanaji Dasgupta take meetings at Waves Film Bazaar aimed at attaching finance, Indian and international co-producers and a possible sales agent. A post-production alliance may also be significant, given that that picture will shoot on celluloid.

Rao is a major name in Indian cinema but has previously operated like an independent and rarely been able to control her rights. She set up Kindling Pictures to take control of her own film destiny, retain IP and be able to venture into community outreach activities. She is building a small pipeline of films with Shadow Hill: Of Spirits And Men expected to be the first.

“Because I have known [director] Bosco for so long and have seen his advertising work, I know the visual quality he will bring to it”, adds Rao.

“Also, I have a kinship with Goa and speak Konkani. I just haven’t seen a story like this made. It is an atmospheric film that alludes to all the issues that I am interested in. It does this through this lens of a treasure hunt, which is exceedingly ambitious and daring. And it has the sort of unexpected whimsy that I love”.

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