‘Shadowbox’ Review: A Restrained Indian Drama That Seldom Coheres, Despite Its Great Performances

variety.com:

Siddhant Adlakha Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi’s “Shadowbox” struggles to overcome its plain aesthetic. The tale of a family of three strained by a father’s odd behavior — owing to what appears to be PTSD — the neorealist Bengali- and Hindi-language drama hints at numerous ideas in the realm of gender, administrative power and the woes of the Indian working class.

These themes end up distinctly malformed, but the film is not without its strengths. Its central drama is usually interesting enough, thanks to the impeccable depth of its performances.

Tillotama Shome — known to Western audiences from “Monsoon Wedding” and the French-Indian drama “Sir” — is a sure bet to lead any work in the visual medium, owing to how effortlessly she creates entire worlds through silent struggle.

She plays the overqualified housemaid Maya, an educated woman doing her best to make ends meet by serving tea and performing other household odd jobs in order to raise her teenage son, Debu (Sayan Karmakar), in the suburbs of Kolkatta (formerly Calcutta).