Phani Sharma’s play adaptation 'Keyo?' misses the mark on screen

Keyo? is a new Assamese film which released on August 1, 2025, starring Partha Dutta, Primrose Saikia, and Palashree Das in the lead roles. Directed by Aparup Agarwala, the film is based on the play Keyo? by Phani Sharma. Released alongside Amar Deep Gogoi's Collage, the lack of promotions and positive word-of-the-mouth has failed to make this film a success at the box office.

In the film, actors Partha Dutta and Palashree Das portray a married couple. They are parents to three children, with the eldest daughter appearing to be around ten to 12 years old. However, both the actors themselves appear noticeably young for these roles, creating an immediate visual disconnect in the story.

Marked by heightened aesthetics, theatricality and drama, Keyo? tells the story of an artiste named Pradip Chaliha and enquires into the financial and moral worth of an artiste's life, his art and his values. Contemplating on these very aspects of the person, who devotes himself selflessly to the larger cause of the society and other human beings, the story feels very dated and repetitive in today's context.

This is because the film unfolds more as a reflective moral inquiry on the nature and fate of artistes than telling an actual story. Having the questions and emotional beats clear from the beginning, the film leans heavily into a sentimental portrayal of the suffering artiste. "Oh! Look how poor he is," "See how he struggles to provide for his family," "See how his child dies of hunger," "See how society fails to recognise his worth," and so on.

The film poses these questions almost non-rhetorically, mirroring the internal quest of the suffering artiste, who searches, often in vain, for the answers. Feels heavy already, right? Yes, the film's preachiness and virtue signalling goes a long way. It throws around such questions like what do artistes get beyond neglect and marginalisation. Why the tendency to take their contributions is for granted? Why? Keyo? And after a point, a sane audience will either lose faith in themselves or in the film.

The only saving grace of the film is the production value and the cinematography (by veteran Suman Dowerah). It is not a very high-budget production but the film's visual aesthetic and the mise-en-scène is crafted in a way that is worthy enough to keep the eyes invested. But the inherent nature of being adapted from a stage play gets translated to the camera through the staging and blocking of the scenes, especially inside the house of Pradip Chaliha, which successfully mimics the virtual spatiality of the stage.

While the film presents itself as a decent realist production in its external shots, the unique lighting conditions in the interior scenes (of Pradip's house) becomes a deliberate attempt to get a stagy look and feel for the film. It works because it is faithful to its source but it also doesn't work because it doesn't aim to achieve more by breaking the barriers of the stage.

Very spontaneously placed musical interludes, in between the narrative, also create a theatrical, musical-like atmosphere but it is again a double-edged stylistic choice. The film is largely salvaged from becoming a complete failure by the performances of Partha Dutta and Palashree Das. However, the di- rector's ambivalence regarding whether to pursue realism or a heightened theatricality is a conflict that is evident in the direction of the actors as well. As for the ac- tors, one can only hope they are afforded better opportunities in stronger projects in the future.

Keyo?, released in as many as 20 cinema halls across Assam, struggled to attract audiences and was soon withdrawn following a disappointing first week at the box office.