In the Shadows / Gali Guliyaan

Director : Dipesh Jain /India|UK/117/Hindi/2017

 

SYNOPSIS In the walled city of Old Delhi, a reclusive shopkeeper spends his days obsessively watching people through hidden closed circuit cameras. When he overhears a boy being beaten, he begins to frantically search for the child. As he becomes lost in the labyrinthine alleys of the city and recesses of his mind, his grasp on reality falters, until he eventually stumbles across a shocking truth.

 

Written & Directed by  Dipesh Jain
Produced by  Shuchi Jain, Dipesh Jain
Director of Photography  Kai Miedendorp
Editor  Chris Witt
Sound Designer  Robert Kellough, Scott Lewis
Music  Dana Niu
CAST Manoj Bajpayee , Ranvir Shorey , Neeraj Kabi , Shahana Goswami , Om Singh

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

• Nominated for Kim Ji Seok Award
  in Window on Asian Cinema-Busan International Film Festival 2017
• Nominated for Gold Hugo Award
  In New Directors Competition-Chicago International Film Festival 2017
• Won The Jury Grand Prize Award
  In India Gold-Mumbai Film Festival 2017

 

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The seeds of IN THE SHADOWS were planted many years ago when as a kid, I used to visit my grandfather who lived in the walled city of Old Delhi. All his life he lived in the same old house and never once went out of the alleys. My father would use him as an example and comment „People living in Old Delhi are trapped there forever. They can never get out“. Those words got etched in my mind. I would walk through the maze of alleys, fearing that if I took a wrong turn somewhere and got lost, I ́ll be trapped in the alleys forever. Looking back, I realize it was an irrational fear but something that changed my point of view about the old city for the rest of my life. My grandfather died a few years back, a lonely man who never had the courage to step out of the alleys. My father ́s word resurfaced in my mind and I decided that one day I ́d write a story set in Old Delhi with which I could express my personal fears I had experienced as a child.

While researching for a documentary on child abuse, I came upon articles proving that adults with a history of child abuse were more prone to developing schizophrenia. I learnt how those kids were trapped in fear all their lives and were never able to cope with it even as adults. This added a new dimension to my fear of entrapment and I decided to tell the story as a fictional narrative that would talk about a pressing social issue of child abuse while addressing my personal fears.