ABOUT THE PROJECT
LOGLINE
A chance meeting with a stranger presents TABASSUM, an undocumented immigrant housekeeper, with an opportunity 22 years in the waiting to see New York City for the first time.
SYNOPSIS
The Mehtas use Tabassum for everything. For 22 years, from the moment they open their eyes to when they’re tucked into bed— she is there. On the evening of an important wedding in the family, Tabassum is sent off to put in a shift at the Mehtas’ store. It is here that Tabassum meets Tommy, a waiter, who offers to walk her home when she’s left stranded. Tentatively breaking barriers of language as they go, Tabassum, in a devastatingly casual manner, confesses to Tommy that she has only ever been in the interiors of the Mehta home or the Mehta shop, and in the car that ferries her to and fro. She has never stepped out on her own anywhere.
An amusing yet tragic fact surfaces—in spite of living across the Hudson River for 22 years, she has never seen New York City. Tommy is both shocked and somewhat charmed by this fact. A determined Tommy convinces her to join him for one night on an adventure to NYC. He takes her to see the city that famously never sleeps, just a short, beautiful ferry ride away from her shackled life in Edison, NJ. What follows is Tabassum’s own experience of the city and of Tommy, but more importantly, of herself after 22 years in America, all alone. TABASSUM is a portrayal of both her life and a fleeting vision of what it could be. It’s a Cinderella story without a fairytale ending.
PROJECT TYPE Narrative Short
DIRECTOR Sri Ram Burgula
SCREENWRITER Sri Ram Burgula
PRODUCER Sri Ram Burgula, Anooya Swamy, Audrey Wick, Paul McGreevy
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Sweta Keswani, Surya Vegesna, Sravya Burgula
WEBSITE Instagram Page
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