by FilmInk Staff
Australian production company Screenxcope has joined as co-producer on the upcoming feature film Shasti (Punishment), directed by acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmaker Leesa Gazi.
Inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s seminal short story Shasti, the film reimagines the classic work through a contemporary lens, set against the charged backdrop of present-day Dhaka. Blending psychological drama with social critique, Shasti explores how power, gender, mental health, and public judgment collide in a society shaped by surveillance, social media volatility, and institutional silence.
Shasti (Punishment) is written by Leesa Gazi, Aanon Siddiqua, and Sadia Reeti, and stars a distinguished ensemble cast including Pori Moni, Chanchal Chowdhury, Aanon Siddiqua, and Australian-Bangladeshi actor Arka Das (Here Out West, My Melbourne).
Leesa Gazi’s previous feature, Barir Naam Shahana (A House Named Shahana), was distributed Australia-wide by Screenxcope and marked comprising Bangladesh’s first female-directed submission for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature category. The film received a Best Film nomination at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and is scheduled for broadcast on SBS from February 2026, further establishing Gazi as one of the region’s most vital contemporary voices.
“At Screenxcope, we’re drawn to films that look beneath the surface of accepted narratives,” said Sakib Iftekhar, Founder and Producer at Screenxcope. “Shasti does this with restraint, observing how authority, silence, and collective certainty shape outcomes long before responsibility is assigned. That perspective aligns closely with the kind of cinema we choose to support.”
“Shasti is a film built to move across borders,” said Faysal Bashar, Head of Operations at Screenxcope. “It speaks to how judgment is manufactured, amplified, and consumed in the digital age. These pressures aren’t confined to one country or culture. That’s why this story feels timely and internationally relevant, and we’re proud to support it from Australia.”
The film is a joint production between Komola Collective, Sanat Initiative, Awedacious Originals, Goopy Bagha Productions Limited, Screenxcope, and Black & White Workshop Inc.
Producers include Leesa Gazi herself, alongside Abid Aziz Merchant (Wakhri, Madina), Apoorva Bakshi (Emmy Award winner for Delhi Crime), and Arifur Rahman (Kingdom of Clay Subjects, Silent Echo), with Sakib Iftekhar (A Thing About Kashem, King in the Land of the Princess) and Rainbow Fong (She Fell to Earth, 100 Yards) serving as co-producers.
Principal photography is scheduled for October–November 2026 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
