Whose portrait lies beneath the soil? ‘Delupi’ teaser sparks curiosity and chills

A young man runs down a dusty village road. His phone rings. “Hello, father,” he says, panting. On the other end, the father’s voice trembles: “Partha, are you at the wedding?” “No, I’m a little outside,” Partha replies. Then comes the line that freezes him mid-step — “The Prime Minister has fled, did you hear?”

Cut to a haunting image: a framed portrait of a woman — solemn, silent — being lowered into the ground, buried under a mound of earth.

That’s how the teaser of Mohammad Touqir Islam’s upcoming film Delupi begins — a 27-second visual riddle that has already set social media abuzz. 

The teaser, released Friday (October 17), doesn’t give away much, but it gives away enough: mystery, politics, and poetry, all in one breath.

The burning question now: whose portrait is being buried?

A new voice in Bangladeshi cinema

Delupi marks the feature debut of young director Mohammad Touqir Islam, who has already drawn attention for his acclaimed web series Shatikap and Sinpaat. 

Produced by Footprint Films, the movie promises to blend realism with allegory, weaving the lives of ordinary people in a corner of rural Bangladesh into a larger national canvas.

In an interview, Touqir explained the title’s roots: “Delupi comes from Deluti Union in Khulna’s Paikgachha Upazila. It’s a story born of that soil — about love, loss, and the fragile reality of human life. I’ve mixed truth with imagination, but it’s still every Bangladeshi’s story.”

All the actors in the film are locals from the region — a deliberate choice by the director, who insists on authenticity over glamour. “Every frame, every face carries a piece of real life,” Touqir said. “That’s what matters to me — real emotions, not performance.”

From Rajshahi to reel realism

Born and raised in Rajshahi, Touqir studied filmmaking at the Asian School of Media Studies in Delhi. His early short films — Kankapuran, Gas Balloon, Lama, and The Infinite — earned praise for their lyrical realism and experimental tone. With Delupi, he appears ready to translate that sensibility into a full-length cinematic journey.

The director is already working on his next project — a government-funded children’s film titled “Ad-Bhoot”, which is currently in pre-production.

A buried portrait, an unburied truth

As the camera lingers on the buried portrait in Delupi’s teaser, viewers are left grappling with questions — is it a metaphor for lost ideals, forgotten women, or a nation burying its own truth?

For now, Touqir isn’t answering. “Let people feel it first,” he smiles. “Every buried image tells a story — and some stories are better discovered than explained.”

One thing’s certain: Delupi isn’t just another debut. It’s a quiet storm brewing beneath the surface of Bangladeshi cinema.