<\/p>\n
Following the Venice selection of her debut feature \u201cSongs of Forgotten Trees\u201d in the festival\u2019s Horizons section, Indian filmmaker Anuparna Roy reflects on the intimate journey behind India\u2019s only entry in the official selection.<\/p>\n
The drama, presented by Indian auteur Anurag Kashyap<\/a> and repped by Celluloid Dreams<\/a>, explores the lives of two migrant women navigating survival and connection in Mumbai.<\/p>\n More from Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n The film centers on Thooya, an aspiring actor who leverages beauty and wit to survive in the city, occasionally trading intimacy for opportunity. When she sublets her sugar daddy\u2019s upscale apartment to Swetha, a fellow migrant working a corporate job, the two women from seemingly different worlds begin to share more than just space. Set against Mumbai\u2019s relentless pulse, their delicate connection faces tests as personal histories, desires, and wounds resurface.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing selected for Venice\u2019s Horizons section with \u2018Songs of Forgotten Trees\u2019 is a deeply meaningful milestone,\u201d Roy tells Variety<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s my first narrative feature, and coming from shorts this recognition affirms my belief in quiet, personal storytelling. Representing India in a section that celebrates bold new voices is both humbling and encouraging. It tells me there\u2019s space for our stories, told on our own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n The project stems from Roy\u2019s memory of her friend Jhuma, who got married and vanished from her life. \u201cJhuma\u2019s disappearance from my life left a quiet but lasting impact,\u201d Roy explains. \u201cTo translate that personal memory into a universal narrative, I focused less on the event itself and more on the emotional undercurrents: loss, silence and the way certain people vanish from our lives without closure.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy initially considered making a documentary about Jhuma but pivoted to fiction. \u201cFiction let me protect the real people while still honoring the truth of that experience,\u201d she says. \u201cThe challenge was to balance that freedom with restraint. I didn\u2019t want to over-explain or dramatize.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hollong tree, central to the film\u2019s title, serves as a subtle metaphor. \u201cI approached it with a sense of restraint, letting it appear subtly almost like a presence felt more than explained,\u201d Roy notes. \u201cThe Hollong tree isn\u2019t just an image; it carries the weight of extinction, of something once vibrant now fading. It echoes the retreat and erasure of memories, especially of Jhuma Nath.\u201d<\/p>\n Cinematographer Debjit Samanta employed natural light and long, observational takes to stay close to the characters\u2019 lived reality. The rental apartment where Roy lived during production became an integral part of the storytelling. \u201cInitially I wanted to reveal the space slowly and not immediately but then during the process you realized the house itself became a character, which is quite unavoidable. We almost used every space of the house,\u201d Roy explains.<\/p>\n The film\u2019s sound design, created by Arka Dev, Alok De and Nishant Ramteke, incorporates \u201ca sense of migration through sound, the chaotic atmosphere of Mumbai and the chaos inside the character are often loud and sometimes subtle,\u201d according to Roy.<\/p>\n Roy\u2019s journey to Venice was supported by a dedicated producing team. When facing financial difficulties, producer Romil Modi stepped in with crucial funding. \u201cRomil ended up putting everything he can, and I am forever grateful to him,\u201d Roy says.<\/p>\n Producer Bibhanshu Rai, who has collaborated with Roy since 2021, co-produced the film alongside Modi and veteran producer Ranjan Singh (Cannes selection \u201cKennedy\u201d). \u201cRanjan sir always been that guidance when no one was beside [me],\u201d Roy notes. \u201cHe has history of supporting indie filmmakers which is just so inspiring and optimistic as an approach.\u201d<\/p>\n Singh, who brought the project to Kashyap\u2019s attention, operates under his company Flip Films and has over 20 years of experience producing and distributing films that regularly feature at international festivals.<\/p>\n Kashyap\u2019s involvement as presenter marks a significant endorsement for Roy. \u201cI remember how secretly I watched \u2018Gangs of Wasseypur\u2019 and chose filmmaking as my career,\u201d she reflects. \u201cI want to tell young filmmakers that Anurag Kashyap is not just a great filmmaker, he is an institution.\u201d<\/p>\n The cast features Naaz Shaikh as Thooya, Sumi Baghel as Sweta, Bhushan Shimpi as Nitin, Ravi Maan as Sweta\u2019s boyfriend, and Lovely Singh as Nitin\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n Roy hails from Narayanpur, a village in Purulia, West Bengal, and holds a degree in British English literature from Kulti College under Burdwan University. She began her cinema career as an assistant director on several short films, including one produced by India\u2019s National Film Development Corporation. Her directorial debut short film \u201cRun to the River\u201d garnered critical acclaim at numerous international festivals.<\/p>\n Beyond filmmaking, Roy is a published writer known for her work on minorities\u2019 rights and refugees.<\/p>\n Looking ahead, Roy expresses interest in \u201cthird world cinema\u201d and \u201cportraying of human emotion.\u201d While open to exploring documentary filmmaking again, she emphasizes her continued evolution as \u201ca student of cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Following the Venice selection of her debut feature \u201cSongs of Forgotten Trees\u201d in the festival\u2019s Horizons section, Indian filmmaker Anuparna Roy reflects on the intimate journey behind India\u2019s only entry in the official selection. The drama, presented by Indian auteur Anurag Kashyap and repped by Celluloid Dreams, explores the lives of two migrant women navigating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1992346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[350042,22578,360265,360264,350333,360266,351277],"class_list":["post-1992345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-anurag-kashyap","tag-india","tag-jhuma","tag-migrant-women","tag-personal-storytelling","tag-roy","tag-venice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\u2018Theres-Space-for-Our-Stories-Told-on-Our-Own-Terms.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1992346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}