After the world premiere at the Miami International Film Festival in March, Suman’s film will now be screened virtually at the prestigious New York Indian Film Festival from June 4. In 2019, Sudiptaa Chakraborty and her daughter Shahida Neera had acted in Suman Ghosh’s film, ‘Searching for Happiness’. The actress is now happy that the film is doing its festival rounds.

“Shahida was four years old when she acted in this film. We play mother-daughter for the first time in this film and needless to say we had a great time. We had no screenplay or dialogues written for this film. Whatever Shahida said on her own was recorded. The idea came to Suman when his five-year-old daughter drew a smiley on a balloon and let it fly, hoping that it will bring happiness to all,” the actress shared with ETimes. “Had the situation been better, we could have been there at the festival. But now, that is out of question. As a mother, I feel honoured that my daughter’s first film as a protagonist will be screened at such a prestigious festival,” added Sudiptaa.

Suman, on his part, said, “This film is very precious to me since the idea of the story came from my then five-year-old (now she is seven) daughter Maya. When she told me the concept (which she implemented in her own life too) I immediately figured that it needs to be told and is so topical given the world we live in now. So, it is a gift from a father to a daughter.”

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