In ‘Baksho Bondi,’ One Woman Holds it All Together

The morning rush is choreographed to the rhythm of Bengali rap. A woman moves through her house like clockwork, waking up her son (“Debu!”) and then her husband (“Utho Sundar!”) She packs their lunches, files documents into her husband’s briefcase, tells her son to make sure his dad showers and goes to the barber, and gives both money — money she’s singlehandedly earned for the family. 

This woman, Maya (a wondrous Tillotama Shome), doesn’t just have two “kids” at home. She has at least three jobs outside it. She irons clothes and hand delivers them to people’s homes. She’s a maid for a rich woman in town. And she takes care of a chicken coop.

As she rides her bicycle from job to job in the cantonment of Barrackpore, West Bengal, her responsibilities seem almost impossible. But they are also quotidian, an accepted way of life for so many people. Baksho Bondi (“Shadowbox”), the Bengali feature film debut from directors Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi, centers this labor — and how society often overlooks it.