| TITLE OF THE FILM | That Perfect Day |
| DIRECTED BY | Anup Abraham Parackal |
| LANGUAGE | Bengali, Hindi, English (English subtitles) |
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COUNTRY | India |
| DURATION | 24 minutes |
| SPECIAL NOTE | Indian Premiere |
PRINCIPAL CREW & CAST
| WRITING | Arastu Zakia, Anup Abraham Parackal |
| CINEMATOGRAPHY | Jayadev IR |
| EDITING | Omkar Gheware |
| LOCATION SOUND | Anando Sakhare |
| SOUND DESIGN & MIXING | Anando Sakhare |
| MUSIC | Parag Ashtikar |
| PRINCIPAL CAST | Tanmay Dhanania, Srij Bhattacharya, Ipsita Kundu, Arfat Ali |
ABOUT THE FILM
Like his other classmate, 10-year-old Michael wishes to distribute fancy chocolates for his birthday. But, aware that his father, a modest driver, cannot afford it, Michael finds unusual ways to raise the required money, along with his best friend.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Anup Abraham Parackal studied Film Direction & Screenplay Writing at the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata. His latest short, ‘That Perfect Day’, is a love letter to his father, exploring the tender complexities of a child’s struggle for acceptance among his peers. Parackal also co-wrote the feature screenplay Zakia with Writer & Director Arastu Zakia, whose autobiographical project was selected for the Rewrite Lab and First Draft Fellowship, mentored by Satyanshu Singh. In 2025, he was chosen for the NFDC Young Creators Program to represent India at the recently concluded Venice Film Festival.
His storytelling seeks to capture lived experiences and evoke emotions rooted in the social and political realities of our time.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
This short film is a love letter to my father. It’s based on real memories from my childhood, moments that I didn’t fully understand back then. Now, as I’ve grown older, I realize the struggles my father went through to provide me with a better life.
The story also touches on how inequality seeps into a child’s world in subtle ways. Something as simple as wanting to distribute chocolates on my birthday became a moment where I first sensed that divide. It became a big issue in my head and I often ponder, should schools be more cognizant of this?
We made this film with a small budget at our film institute, but it came together because of the kindness of many. St. Anthony’s School gave us their campus to shoot, the chapel opened its doors, and people who attend the Sunday mass came in early to be extras.
