Chabiwala: The Keysmith, a Bengali independent feature film, won several prizes at the sixth Sri Lanka International World Film Festival, bringing Indian cinema international recognition. The movie was formally chosen in 19 categories, demonstrating its powerful presence on the global stage.

The film’s director, who had a strong storytelling vision, took home the Best Director (Feature Film) award. Amrita Chattopadhyay won Best Actress – Breakthrough Performance for her powerful performance, Kaushik Kar won Best Actor – Jury Special, and Subhasish Mukherjee won Best Supporting Actor – Breakthrough.

Nabarun Bose won Best Background Score – Outstanding, which further enhanced the film’s cinematic depth. The movie also made its mark in important technical areas. In addition to these, the movie won awards in a number of other categories, demonstrating its overall superiority in execution, storytelling, and craft.

Chabiwala – The Keysmith, which was independently produced by Rajkumar Bhunia and Raja Ghosh, is a monument to the power and tenacity of independent filmmaking. The film started out as a passion project in 2017–18 and has progressively expanded to gain recognition on both national and international platforms, which makes this journey even more unique.

The director expressed his feelings, saying that it was a very emotional and rewarding moment for the whole team. He pointed out that although the path of an independent film is frequently difficult, the tremendous praise from viewers around the world has made it genuinely worthwhile. He also thanked the jury, festival organizers, and everyone who helped make the movie a success.

Amrita Chattopadhyay responded to her victory by saying that winning Best Actress for Chabiwala was a significant turning point in her career. She expressed gratitude to the director for having faith in her strong character and stated that the team’s combined commitment and diligence are what led to the recognition. She dedicated the accomplishment to the entire team and added that this is her second Best Actress award for the movie, following her previous victory at the Jharkhand International Film Festival.

With this outstanding accomplishment, Chabiwala – The Keysmith continues to shine as an internationally acclaimed Bengali independent film, demonstrating that genuine storytelling and passion-driven cinema can transcend boundaries and connect with audiences worldwide.

Priyanka Dutta