#IFFIWood, 27 November 2022

An authoritative and over-possessive son who tries to impose restrictions on his senior citizen father, thinking that what he is doing is best for his father. A father who wants to fulfill his unfulfilled dreams for which he needs a tonic, that is, a medicine for support to lead a happy life. ‘If you have tonic in life, you can conquer the world’ is what the senior citizen father says.

In the Bengali feature film ‘Tonic’ which was screened in 53^rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI)’s Indian Panaroma section, the protagonist is symbolically named ‘Tonic’ as he provides support and confidence to the senior citizen for enjoying life as he wanted. 

Addressing an IFFI Table Talks session in Goa today, former FTII academic in-charge, SRFTI graduate and Director Avijit Sen said that the fundamental theme of the film is that every person needs a support system to lead a happy life; and he wanted to give a catchy title which reveals the theme in no uncertain terms. Hence, he chose the name ‘Tonic’.

The protagonist Tonic has been portrayed by actor Dev who also joined the IFFI Table Talks interaction. Dev feels that it is a film on human relationships. “The film is a manifestation of today’s generation who are an over-protective and over-concerned generation who overlook their parents’ desires, dreams and wishes.”

Actor Dev informed that the film was screened continuously for 111 days in theatres in the post-pandemic period last year – a feat very few films in the post-pandemic days have achieved.

The ‘Tonic’ team said that they feel lucky to be showcasing their film in IFFI as films of many stalwarts are showcased in this platform.

Speaking on film media, Dev opined that though OTT has taken Indian regional cinema to a global audience, somewhere deep down, every filmmaker wants his or her film to be showcased on the big screen, even if for a day! “Cinema is made for 72 mm. Cinema is made for the big screen.”

About the feature-film ‘Tonic’

Jaladhar Sen, retired and in his seventies, lives with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. The authoritative attitude and over-possessiveness of his son creates friction in their family. Jaladhar plans for a foreign trip and meets a travel agent named Tonic who later turns out to be a miracle maker in their life. As their foreign trip gets cancelled, the old couple plan a visit to Darjeeling without telling their son but Jaladhar falls ill there.

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