India, May 10 -- Filmmaker Shonali Bose was just 21 when she lost her mother, Junie Dass, in 1986, a tragedy that profoundly shaped her life and artistic journey. This immense personal loss became a recurring undercurrent in her storytelling.

"Losing her at 21 was devastating and painful - it changed my life," Shonali recalls, adding, "I explored mother-daughter relationships and the theme of death across Amu (2005), Margarita with a Straw (2014), and The Sky is Pink (2019). With Amu specifically, we intentionally wrote a story around a mother daughter to tap into my pain and write from an honest place. I believe that if you can write from the depths of your pain - that can be powerful."

In her debut film Amu, Shonali cast her maternal ...