Venice Horizons Winner Anuparna Roy Returns to Lido With Mumbai Story of Migrants, Desire and Belonging ‘Lovers in the Blue Night’
Indian director Anuparna Roy returns to the Venice Film Festival's Horizons competition with "Lovers in the Blue Night," a year after becoming the first Indian filmmaker to win the section's best director prize for her debut, "Songs of Forgotten Trees." The new film, sold internationally by Parallax, follows four migrants navigating desire and belonging in Mumbai, and is rooted in a story Roy has carried since childhood about a bonded labourer from her hometown.
The film centres on Ameena, whose closeted gay husband Karim and his lover Sukka, a man contending with caste barriers, sit at the heart of the narrative; Roy said she wanted a neutral, empathetic register for both men rather than exaggerating their hardship or reducing it to ideology. She describes love as a form of resistance for characters who are punished for wanting things, and points to Karim's job killing rats in wealthy housing societies, followed by him going home to kiss another man, as an image she calls "no less than revolutionary." Like her debut, the film draws on floods Roy experienced growing up near the Bangladesh border, with displaced characters again exiled from a destroyed home, though this time the focus shifts from two women to two men exploring bisexuality.
In short
- Anuparna Roy's new film premieres in Venice's Horizons competition
- Story follows four Mumbai migrants exploring love, caste and closeted sexuality
- Follows her 2025 Horizons best director win for "Songs of Forgotten Trees"
Explained simply
Migrant workers dressed as bonded labourer from her hometown who moved to Mumbai make up the cast of characters in "Lovers in the Blue Night," the second feature from Indian director Anuparna Roy. She first drew attention at last year's Venice Film Festival, when her debut "Songs of Forgotten Trees" made her the first Indian filmmaker to win best director in the festival's Horizons section, which showcases innovative or experimental cinema from around the world.
The new film follows Ameena and the two men around her, her husband Karim, who is secretly gay, and his lover Sukka, who faces discrimination linked to India's caste system, a longstanding social hierarchy that still shapes many people's lives and opportunities. Roy has said she wanted to portray both men with empathy rather than sensationalising their circumstances, exploring themes of desire, belonging and survival among people who have left their homes behind.
The story is partly inspired by floods Roy witnessed growing up near the border with Bangladesh, an experience that also shaped her first film. Her return to the Horizons competition is being watched closely, since a second strong showing at Venice would confirm her as a filmmaker to follow rather than a one-off success.
Asia Business Entertainment Film Markets World