Qala — the period Netflix psychological drama film from Bulbbul writer-director Anvitaa Dutt — now has a release date: December 1. On Tuesday, Netflix announced that Dutt’s second feature-length directorial venture, and second also on Netflix, would arrive exactly in a month’s time. Set in the late 1930s and early 1940s pre-Independence India, Qala follows the eponymous young playback singer (Triptii Dimri) as her “tragic past catches up with her, causing her to unravel at the peak of her hard-won success. But the beginning and end of her spiral is her relationship with her mother (Swastika Mukherjee). The pathology of her upbringing and the neurosis it leads to.”
In addition to Mukherjee and Dimri (who is reunited with Dutt after being the lead star on Bulbbul), Netflix’s Qala also stars Babil Khan, Amit Sial (Maharani, Jamtara), Neer Raao (Feels Like Home), Avinash Raj Sharma (14 Phere), and Ashish Singh (Gehraiyaan). Qala is the feature-length debut for Babil Khan, the son of the late Irrfan.
Qala release date poster
The first official Qala key art
Photo Credit: Netflix
As on Bulbbul, Dutt is the writer and director on Qala. Dutt is also a lyricist on the Netflix film, alongside Amitabh Bhattacharya, Kausar Munir, Swanand Kirkire, and Varun Grover. Amit Trivedi is the music composer, and Siddharth Diwan (Titli) is the cinematographer. Qala is a production of Clean Slate Filmz, with Karnesh Ssharma as sole producer.
In a prepared statement, Dutt said: “Qala is a story about mothers and daughters. And how a troubled upbringing can damage someone and have far-reaching consequences. Karnesh and I both felt it was an important story to tell. We set it in the world of music in the late 1930s; a setting both evocative and poignant. It has been an exciting and rewarding journey to bring this story to life with Netflix as our partners. This is my second outing with them and it has been twice as much fun to create a homegrown story for audiences worldwide.”
Ssharma added: “We are delighted to be working along with Netflix and Anvitaa once again. At Clean Slate Filmz, we aim to create distinct stories and Qala is one such film. Audiences across the world will be able to relate to it due to universal themes like family relationships and mental health. A service like Netflix allows for audiences globally to find diverse stories from India and we are hoping the film and the music are something they hold on to even after watching it on December 1st.”
Qala is out December 1 on Netflix in India and around the world.