Neena Gupta and Kalki Koechlin team up for an international film Goldfish focusing on mental health

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By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

December 3, 2020 - 9:34 AM IST

Actors Neena Gupta and Kalki Koechlin are set to be part of an international film Goldfish that will focus on creating awareness about mental health. It is a British-American project being produced by Splendid Films USA. It will be directed by Pushan Kriplani who developed the script keeping the two actors in mind who are set to play mother-daughter in the drama.

Neena Gupta and Kalki Koechlin team up for an international film Goldfish focusing on mental health

Produced by Amit Saxena, the film is a delicate timeless story of a mother and a daughter, and of a community. Pushan Kripalani is the writer, director, cinematographer of the project with Executive Producer Pooja Chauhan who was instrumental in discovering the story and bringing together the team and the producer to make the project a reality.

Neena Gupta commented, “Its a very different experience to work with Pushan Kripalani, I’m saying so because I did a very beautiful film with him which he directed called The Threshold, which is on Hotstar. When he came to me with this Goldfish film, the script, I was very excited. Number one because it is a very very challenging role and it's a beautiful script and I love the way Pushan works, there is a lot of freedom which the actors get. Its a very different experience from the other films, he’s a very special person in my life and I’m very excited to be a part of Goldfish. In fact I’m very nervous because it is a very challenging role.”

Commenting on the project, Kalki Koechlin added, “I’m very excited working on Goldfish, I’ve been wanting to work with Pushan, the director since I saw his first film Threshold and Neenaji, of course, is an amazing actor, I love her and looking forward to working with her. Also, the writer of the script Arghya is someone I have worked closely within the theatre, he’s done a lot of light design for the productions I have worked on. It's really quite a nice, happy union of different people from my walks of life and I’m very excited to start this project. The script is so fantastic!”

Talking about the film and working with the actors, Pushan Kriplani, director, writer and DOP said, “Neena and Kalki are both actors of immense sensitivity and skill. For this nuanced and difficult film, you need people who have a keen understanding of the human condition. They are wonderful casting for this piece. To make a film in the midst of a global pandemic is a hard task, but the background of isolation, restriction and hard times bring into sharp focus, the themes of diaspora and identity that the film seeks to explore. I can’t wait to get started.”

Amit Saxena, Splendid Films said, “GoldFish is first of many Splendid Films projects to hit the floor, super excited and lucky to be working with such talented people, we have two national award-winning actors. Cannot wait for Goldfish, I believe it is a winner all the way. Be on the lookout for more great content from the Splendid repertoire.”

Set in London, Goldfish deals with memory, music, mental health and identity. Anamika (played by Kalki), the child of a mixed marriage, returns home to her estranged mother Sadhana (Neena Gupta) because she is suffering from the onset of dementia. Anamika returns to a neighbourhood she barely remembers, to a woman who sometimes doesn’t remember her. What ensues next is an unfolding of complex yet beautiful emotions as Sandhana and Anamika’s worlds, though strikingly different, come together.