“Cinema is made for 72 mm. Cinema is made for the big screen.”

Says Actor Dev of Tonic

‘Tonic’ is a film that pledges support for senior citizens to live their dreams. According to director Avijit Sen and actor Dev, the film is a manifestation of today’s over-protective and over-concerned generation who overlook their parents’ needs and added that deep down, every filmmaker wants his or her film to be showcased on the big screen, even if for a day”

An authoritative and over-possessive son who tries to impose restrictions on his senior citizen father, thinking that what he is doing is best for his father. A father who wants to fulfil his unfulfilled dreams for which he needs a tonic, that is, a medicine for support to lead a happy life. ‘If you have tonic in life, you can conquer the world’ is what the senior citizen's father says.

In the Bengali feature film ‘Tonic’ which was screened in 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI)’s Indian Panaroma section this year, the protagonist is symbolically named ‘Tonic’ as he provides support and confidence to the senior citizen for enjoying life as he wanted.

Addressing an IFFI Table Talks session in Goa , former FTII academic in-charge, SRFTI graduate and director Avijit Sen said that the fundamental theme of the film is that every person needs a support system to lead a happy life; and he wanted to give a catchy title which reveals the theme in no uncertain terms. Hence, he chose the name ‘Tonic’.

The protagonist Tonic has been portrayed by actor Dev who also joined the IFFI Table Talks interaction. Dev feels that it is a film on human relationships. “The film is a manifestation of today’s generation who are an overprotective and over-concerned generation who overlook their parents’ desires, dreams and wishes.”

Dev informed that the film was screened continuously for 111 days in theatres in the post-pandemic period last year – a feat very few films in the post-pandemic days have achieved.

The ‘Tonic’ team said that they feel lucky to be showcasing their film in IFFI as films of many stalwarts are showcased in this platform. Speaking on film media, Dev opined that though OTT has taken Indian regional cinema to a global audience, somewhere deep down, every filmmaker wants his or her film to be showcased on the big screen, even if for a day! “Cinema is made for 72 mm. Cinema is made for the big screen.”

Jaladhar Sen, retired and in his 70’s, lives with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. The authoritative attitude and over-possessiveness of his son creates friction in their family. Jaladhar plans for a foreign trip and meets a travel agent named Tonic who later turns out to be a miracle maker in their life. As their foreign trip gets cancelled, the old couple plan a visit to Darjeeling without telling their son but Jaladhar falls ill there.