It's already the darling of critics and film festivals. And now, National Award winning actress Konkona Sen Sharma's directorial debut A Death in the Gunj, a period film shot in McCluskiegunj, is set for a commercial release on June 2.

Promoting her film in Ranchi's Suchana Bhavan on Sunday were Konkona and her team, including actors Kalki Koechlin and Vikrant Massey, producers Abhishek Chaubey, Ashish Bhatnagar and others.

Set in McCluskiegunj, once an Anglo-Indian town dubbed "little England", in the winter of 1979, A Death in the Gunj is about how a family vacation goes from smooth to spine-chilling, the hilly place also very much a character.

Konkona's father Mukul Sharma, science writer and journalist who also acted in Parama, a 1984 film directed by his then wife Aparna Sen, Konkona's mother, had close ties with McCluskiegunj. "I came to McCluskiegunj many times as a child," said Konkona, 37. "My (paternal) grandparents owned a house there. I heard many stories about people there from my father and one of those inspired me to make the film."

"It's a mix of memory, experience and fiction," she said.

Showing the film's trailer, an emotional Konkona said they all missed Om Puri, one of its actors, who passed away on January 6 this year. "He was a joyful kind of person and loved McCluskiegunj so much that he stayed back for the entire duration of his shooting and didn't even return to Ranchi for a night halt."

Kalki, who straddles commercial and offbeat movies with equal ease, agreed McCluskiegunj was beautiful. "For many of us it was an undiscovered place," said Vikrant.

But McCluskiegunj would not be a hidden gem much longer. "We have tied up with an online global distributing company to show the film in about 200 countries," said Ashish Bhatnagar, one of the five producers.

Abhishek Chaubey, one of the producers and director of acclaimed Udta Punjab, Ishqiya and Dedh Ishqiya, sprung a surprise. "I studied at St Xavier's School in Ranchi," he said. "People in the Mumbai film industry feel encouraged with the state's film policy and many more films will surely be made here," he added.

"We welcome filmmakers to Jharkhand," said Sanjay Kumar, principal secretary to chief minister Raghubar Das.

Are you looking forward to watch the movie? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com