The protagonist of Bula hallucinates in a still from the film about a domestic help he has to hire

Blind faith in astrology, lack of educational facilities for the poor, increase in crime rate and its effect on the middle-class psyche are some of the issues highlighted in a 30-minute comedy film that was first shown in a coffee shop recently.

Directed by Nirmalya Majumder, the head of a youth forum, Bula targets youngsters and has mostly young actors in the cast.

The central character is Bula, a young domestic help. Her prospective employer Ranajoy, a corporate executive, interviews her as if he is recruiting someone for his workplace. At the back of his mind is the news he had heard in the morning of a domestic help cleaning out a house. Ranajoy later calls up an astrologer to find out whether he should employ Bula or not.

“I wanted to deal with social issues but did not intend to preach. So I chose to make a comedy. But I believe the youth will think about the issues raised,” said Majumder, who shot the film in three days, The first screening was attended by actor Arindam Sil and 75-odd viewers.

For students, it was not just a fun watch. “In the garb of a comedy, the film highlighted the biases in our minds. The male protagonist hears about a theft on the radio and immediately starts to view the domestic help he is about to hire with suspicion,” said Shreya Ghosh, who is pursuing a master’s in international relations at Jadavpur University.