A moment from Laptop: Churni Ganguly, Barun Chanda and Rahul Bose

Kaushik Ganguly’s Laptop is hopping from one festival to the other. The director is thrilled after the screening of the film at the 42nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, on Sunday night. This isn’t the first time that Kaushik’s film has been screened in the Indian Panorama section of the festival. Last year he picked up the Silver Peacock award for Just Another Love Story (Aarekti Premer Galpo), a gay love story starring Rituparno Ghosh, Indraneil Sengupta and Jisshu Sengupta in the lead.

“The response from the audience after the screening of Laptop was heart-warming,” Kaushik told t2 over phone from Goa. “I play a visually challenged novelist in Laptop and after the film got over, an audience member walked up to me and said, after Sparsh (Naseeruddin Shah-Shabana Azmi), he got to see somebody play a visually challenged person so convincingly. Everybody was praised, Rahul (Bose), Churni (Ganguly), Saswata (Chatterjee). Besides, Laptop is the only yet-to-release Bengali film to be screened at the Indian Panorama this year,” he added.

The show was “houseful” with only “20 per cent” of the audience being Bengali. “There was a standing ovation after the film got over,” said Kaushik.

Next stop, Dubai. Laptop will be screened in the competitive section of the Dubai International Film Festival on December 9. “I am lucky that Laptop will compete in Dubai along with the films of some Oscar-winning directors. It’s an honour.”

Laptop is a relationship tale about a couple played by Churni and Saswata. Rahul plays Churni’s friend from the past. The film also stars Rajesh Sharma, Barun Chanda and Gaurav Chakrabarty. Every character in the film is connected through a laptop.

The film is slated for a Poila Baisakh release.

KN