Sagnik Dutta

Acts of Kindness main poster

Trailer coming soon

Poster Art

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Stills

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Behind the scenes

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Acts of Kindness

15 min, Bengali, 2025

Synopsis

A homeless vagrant is lured by a seemingly kind couple, who offer him money and liquor in exchange for small tasks. As they gradually manipulate him with vague promises, a darker motive begins to emerge. "Acts of Kindness" is a tense, unsettling character study, set on the streets of Kolkata.

Based on a true story.

Director's Statement

In early 2024, I came across a newspaper article that reported the abduction and killing of an unnamed homeless man by a middle-class couple in Karnataka. Although the article carried numerous details about the perpetrators of this crime and their scheme, there was just a single line about the victim, which was - The couple lured him to their car. This one sentence left me utterly intrigued. How could a man just be 'lured' to his death? What was the story of this anonymous victim, and that is the line of enquiry that ultimately led to the short film Acts of Kindness. The film highlights the story of someone whom society would rather forget.

Credits

Cast: Sagnik Mukherjee, Mouli Roy, Sayan Royan
Produced by: Tushar Chandra
Original Score: Abhirup Dutta
Director of Photography: Titir Mukherjee
Asst. Director: Sidhartha Chakravarty
Production Asst.: Monica Dutta
Hair & Make-up: Priyanshu Das
Dubbing Engineer: Arijit Chowdhury
Camera Asst.: Subhajit Sinha, Sourav Barik
Special Assistance: Bharat Band Party, Prakriti Boutique

Written, Directed & Edited by Sagnik Dutta

Download: Press Kit

  • Country: India
  • Language: Bengali
  • Subtitles: English
  • Runtime: 15 mins
  • Genre: Social Drama
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Format: DCP and ProRes available
  • Sound: Stereo