Acclaimed filmmaker Pradipta Bhattacharyya’s new Bengali film Nadharer Bhela (The Slow Man and His Raft) has been selected for the international competition section, Innovation in Moving Images, at the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF). The festival will take place in Kolkata from November 6 to 13.

About Nadharer Bhela

Nadharer Bhela was previously screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in 2025. The film chronicles Nadhar, a man deemed dysfunctional for his extremely sluggish movements, becomes part of a travelling circus, where his condition turns into spectacle. It is an expansive meditation on human nature, slowness and being profoundly out of step with the world.

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The three-hour film is the sole Indian entry in the category and will compete for the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger award alongside 14 other films from around the world, said a KIFF official. Ritwick Chakraborty plays the role of a circus manager in the film, while actor Amit Saha portrays the titular character, Nadhar. The film was shot in the director’s native village in Tehatta, located in West Bengal’s Nadia district.

“Though I began pre-production a year ago, the film was shot over just 13 days. Nadharer Bhela dwells on the journey of a man who is trying hard to match his pace in a fast-paced society. If someone wishes to follow his own pace, he is branded as a misfit in society. If someone’s productivity decreases due to advanced age, he is branded as a misfit in this world. My film focuses on such a protagonist,” said the director in a statement to PTI.

He added, “I am happy that audiences in my city and international delegates at KIFF will now get a chance to watch it. This selection is a recognition of the entire team’s hard work in realising the concept.”

(via inputs from PTI)