Amartya Bhattacharyya’s Son of Adam, which is inspired by Rupam Islam’s Aami, bags an award at a Madrid film fest

Amartya Bhattacharyya’s Son of Adam has recently won the Best Musical Film award at the Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Madrid 2024, popularly referred to as FICIMAD 2024. The award was announced on March 15 at La Filmoteca Española (Cine Doré) in Madrid, Spain.

Son of Adam is the cinematic adaptation of rock-icon and National Award-winner Rupam Islam’s pathbreaking album Aami which he released in 2020 in collaboration with guitar maestro Amyt Datta. The film has been written and directed by filmmaker Amartya Bhattacharyya, also a National Award winner whose earlier films like Adieu Godard, Runanubandha, Khyanikaa, etc have been critically acclaimed and awarded. 

The festival, in its official magazine, highlights the film mentioning, “Amartya Bhattacharyya makes a heterogeneous, omnivorous film that can be broken down into independent parts thinking about the wonderful songs of the iconic singer Rupam Islam, but that is best viewed from a distance, admiring the whole. From a bird's eye view, Amartya Bhattacharyya's megalomaniacal project could be infinite and universal: since he decides to explain all the Indian history and mythology, everything can fit inside, all the stories, all the lives. With a low-budget guerrilla filming, the ancestral dances serve as a transition between distressing reality and impotent fantasy. The sequences are pure hedonism and audiovisual pleasure, poetically bewitching us on our journey with the multifaceted Swastik Choudhury and the beautiful Priyanka Ghosh Roy.”

Son of Adam is produced by actor/producer Swastik Choudhury, under the banner of Swastik Arthouse in association with FilmStop Entertainment. Swastik also plays the protagonist in the film, and Priyanka Ghosh Roy plays the female lead. Rupam Islam and Amyt Datta appear in interesting cameos at a crucial phase in the film. 

The film had its world premiere last December at the 77th International Film Festival of Salerno in Italy, one of the oldest film festivals in the world. Later this month Son of Adam will premiere in South America at the San Antonio Independent Film Festival 2024 in Ecuador. It's the only Asian Film in Feature Fiction Competition and is the only Indian film at the festival.  

Rupam Islam, the presenter and inspiration behind the film, said, “I am not surprised at all. I chose to present the film as the subject is very dear to me, and the way the film has been conceptualized, thoroughly justifies the visualization of the songs in the album. I feel the film has the potential to win several more awards. I extend my congratulations and best wishes to everyone who has been a part of this film.”

Elated by this win, director Amartya Bhattacharyya, added, “This is the first award for Son of Adam, and what better way to start than an award for Best Musical Film. This film is an attempt to adapt a musical album into cinema, and I'm so happy that our efforts are getting some acknowledgment on the global platform. No words are enough to thank Rupamda for putting his trust in me.”