Why this Film

Duwardoli (Reverie) explores the fragile distance between knowing a person and truly understanding them.

At the centre of the film is Prachir, a man whose inner world remains largely inaccessible to those around him. Niti, a documentary filmmaker, enters his life initially as an observer. Gradually, her position changes. What begins as an attempt to document another person becomes an attempt to understand him.

The film is rooted in the traditional landscape, rituals and cultural rhythms of Assam. Yet these elements are not used as cultural decoration. They are part of the characters’ lives and shape the world in which their relationship unfolds. Within this distinctly Assamese setting is a story of separation, emotional distance and the possibility of reunion that can resonate far beyond its geography.

The film also carries a personal and autobiographical impulse. It grew out of my own experience of separation and the emotional questions that remained after it. Rather than recreating that experience literally, I used it as the emotional foundation of the story: what remains between two people after a relationship has broken, what we fail to understand about each other, and whether understanding can arrive after separation.

This makes Duwardoli both intimate and universal. Its world is specific, its rituals and social fabric deeply rooted in Assam, but its emotional territory belongs to no single culture. Separation, regret, misunderstanding, memory and the desire to reconnect are experiences that can cross language, geography and social boundaries.

Niti's attempt to understand Prachir is therefore not an act of explanation or rescue. It is an act of attention. The closer she comes to him, the more she is compelled to examine her own assumptions, experiences and prejudices.

For those who encounter the film, its strength lies in this intersection of a distinctive cultural setting, an inward character study and a deeply personal story. It offers a male character who is not easily categorised, a woman whose gaze keeps changing as she gets closer to him, and a relationship in which understanding becomes more important than judgement.

Following Alifa, my National Award winning debut feature, Duwardoli represents a more personal and intimate step in my filmmaking. It is a film about separation, but also about the possibility that empathy can create a path towards understanding, even when life has already taken two people apart.

The film does not seek to decide who is right or wrong. It looks instead at what remains between two people, and whether truly seeing another person can sometimes make reunion possible.