Prabhat Roy returns to direction with short film adaptation of Tagore’s Bolai

Veteran filmmaker Prabhat Roy is set to return to the director’s chair with Bolai, a short film inspired by the classic story by Rabindranath Tagore. The film is currently in pre-production and will bring to screen a sensitive tale of childhood, loneliness and the deep emotional bond between a boy and nature.The story follows Bolai, a quiet and sensitive child who develops a deep attachment to a young shimul tree growing in his courtyard. Having lost his mother early in life, he pours his loneliness and affection into the tree, treating it almost like a living companion. When he is sent away to a boarding school, the tree becomes his strongest connection to home and to the memories of his mother. However, an unexpected incident surrounding the tree back home hints that the fragile world Bolai left behind may not remain the same when he tries to return to it.

The film features actors Kaushik Sen, Anujoy Chattopadhyay, Basabdatta Chatterjee and Phalguni Chatterjee. Music for the film will be composed by Kabir Suman, while the script, dialogues and casting are handled by Ekta Bhattacharjee.Roy said he chose to adapt Bolai because it is an emotionally relatable story that generations of Bengali readers have grown up with. At 82, and after a gap of more than a decade since his last film, the director described the project as deeply personal. Due to health considerations, he has chosen to make it as a short film rather than a full-length feature, calling the opportunity to return to filmmaking once again one of the most meaningful moments of his life.