Actor Kunal Kumar, who shared screen space with National Award-winning actress Seema Biswas in the short film “Holding Back”, says it was a “dream come true” for him to work with her as she is an “institute of acting”.
“She is a volcano of emotions… A true artist, who is very grounded and an impulsive actor. It was a dream come true moment to work with her and that too playing her son in the short film. She is an institute in acting,” Kunal, who has appeared in films like “Saathiya”, “Dasvidaniya” and “Namastey London”, said in a statement.
Directed by Wilson Louis, “Holding back” is based on a real 1999 incident when a man, Shiva, who is suffering from blood cancer, passed away in a train while travelling from Bengaluru to Chennai for a friend’s marriage.
Shiva was travelling with his mother and elder cousin Suresh. The film deals with the mother’s emotional journey of her son’s death.
Further sharing his experience about working with the “Bandit Queen” actress, Kunal said: “There is a scene in which she (Seema) is crying while I am dead and after the scene got over I started crying because there was so much of authenticity and honesty in her emotions.”
Produced by Sheila Sandhu, “Holding Back” also features Ananth Mahadevan, Aditya Lakhia and Raj Arjun.
The short film has been honoured at various international film festivals like Salento International Film Festival, Washington DC South Asian Film Festival and Nasik International Film Fest.
The film will next compete at the upcoming Filmfare Short Film Awards which will take place in January 2017. Also the film has been nominated in the Best Short Film category at the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Film Festival.
