The Zebras — Dark Start delves into the uncharted territory of artificial intelligence, inviting audiences on a journey that challenges preconceived notions and pushes the boundaries of conventional storytelling. The film is going to release soon in April and as a director of this film, I am delighted that our film will witness the much-deserved light of the day. And thanks to our producers Akhil and Ashik Murali; their anticipation has come out to be undivided, strong and unbiased.

The film stars Sharib Hashmi, Priyanka Sarkar and Usha Banerjee in leading roles. Sharib Hashmi, known for his portrayal of ‘JK’ in The Family Man, plays the character of a very ordinary guy who possesses a dark side to his apparent personality. Priyanka Sarkar, known for her realistic approach in Bengali films, is marking her step in Bollywood with this film and dons the character of a model. Usha Banerjee portrays the character of a documentarian in this film.

The shooting brought in many memories, and most of them were worth remembering. The most challenging sequence that we shot is the one that depicts the heinous perspective on Sharib Hashmi’s character.

Now, there was this scene where Sharib had to get out of an abandoned house splattered with animal blood with a knife in his hand. The location was set up in a busy locality in south Calcutta and the abandoned place was once known as the primary glass factory of West Bengal. Managing the crowd was itself a humongous task, and adding to it was the usage of raw meat in open daylight. The whole place was arranged so well that it matched an authentic murder scenario!

It does not end here. There have been more instances and the behind-the-scenes scenario has been much of a thrilling experience. Let’s have a cinematic entourage of Chinatown. I think this was the first time I visited Chinatown and it was during the prep phase. We had to start building from scratch and match it to my perceived world. Our art director, Preeti Nag did a commendable job and the place actually felt like we were just an hour away from celebrating ‘Chinese New Year’. Priyanka Sarkar was dressed like a monster and she had to roam around the eerie streets of Chinatown and we needed a certain size of crowd, mostly kids. But, they refused! They were so horrified by Priyanka’s appearance that they actually thought it was a real monster.

When we are discussing all these, how can I miss out on the scenario of Canning? Now, I have never before faced such turbulent weather ever while shooting. I reached Canning, a day prior to our shooting date and the whole place was drenched with torrential rain. Adding to it, I slipped off a muddy barrier and hurt my knee badly. The next day, we had to shoot a surreal scene with Usha Banerjee that involved ‘snowfall’. It was windy as well, and we could not direct the snow properly on the subject. Everyone, right from the cinematographer (Arijit Bose) to the gaffer, was drenched in foam.

This was followed by a scene where Usha had to drag an actor with rope cropped around his waist. The actor was a person in his 70s and he was not eager to be dragged. The whole team had to demonstrate the ways where he could fake being dragged, and it took around two hours to execute that shot (in natural light).

The whole film takes place within the parameters of claustrophobic surroundings. Therefore, I planned to go on a small trip to Sittong, north Bengal, and explore things on my own. That was not a part of a patch shoot but a vital part of the whole film. But I had not thought of shooting something like this until we were on its end schedule. I just hired the camera and went on my journey with an extremely small team. It worked wonders when I was able to meet some real-life characters that add up very well to the film. I did the camera in this portion and the journey was extremely strenuous. Working with a small team implies that you need to work flexibly and with a minimum of resources.

Shooting Sharib was fun and tenacious too. We had a very finite number of days and Sharib had commitments back in Mumbai. He was very warm on the sets and I liked working with him. We had to shoot a scene with Sharib and it was followed by a schedule that had to be extended till the dawn hours of the next day.

Other than this, we reached the suburbs of Bengal to shoot a rural part featuring Priyanka Sarkar. We were late but we needed to shoot a day scene there. The environment got transformed into a festive mood; we had to create the night light into a day mood and we had to light up a large portion of the locality. The shot went very well!

However, the funniest part was when Sharib was given a pause while shooting and he almost joined a Puja procession with the slum dwellers. He was very keen to walk down the vacant alleys and relish the charm of north Calcutta.

Shooting the film was thrilling and hurdles were conveniently overpowered by long-term milestones. Each one of the players, technicians, and assistants played an active part in creating my world of dreams; our efforts paid off, I can claim. And now, the film is all set for release. This film is a labor of love, and I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished. The Zebras —Dark Start is more than just a movie; it’s a reflection of our society and a call to action. I hope that audiences will be moved by the story we have told and inspired to think critically about the world around them.

I had never really aspired to opt for theatrical releases because my kind of films never cater to the mainstream audiences, however, this film is different and had to be. Yes, I am really looking forward to the release, however, greater or lesser box office numbers do not make me a better or lesser filmmaker. But definitely, I am looking forward to hearing people out.

In an age defined by rapid technological advancement and existential uncertainty, The Zebras — Dark Start stands as a beacon of artistic courage and philosophical inquiry. It is a film that transcends the boundaries of genre and convention, daring to ask the most fundamental questions about what it means to be human in an increasingly digitised world.

In a world where truth is often elusive and reality is but a fleeting illusion, the film serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring power of storytelling to illuminate the darkest recesses of our collective consciousness.