Nandita Das, Sameer Nair on Busan Selection ‘Zwigato’: ‘The Struggle Between Man and Algorithms’
Naman Ramachandran After its world premiere in Toronto, Nandita Das’ “Zwigato” has its Asian premiere in Busan’s A Window on Asian Cinema strand. An acclaimed actor with credits including “Fire,” “Kannathil Muthamittal” and “Kamli,” Das made her directorial debut with “Firaaq” (2008), which debuted at Toronto. Her next film as director, “Manto” (2018), bowed at Cannes. “Zwigato,” her third outing in the director’s seat, also bowed at Toronto. It began life as a short film that was to be part of an anthology produced by India’s Applause Entertainment. That project didn’t come to fruition, but Applause chief Sameer Nair convinced Das to expand the idea into a feature, which she did during the course of India’s first two COVID-19 lockdowns. The film, a satire on the gig economy, follows a factory manager, who after losing his job, becomes a courier for the food delivery app Zwigato.