16 November,2025 09:09 AM IST | Mumbai | Akshita Maheshwari
Kaisi Yeh Paheli follows a broken mother-son relationship where the mom solves a murder mystery to get closer to her son
Memes about middle-aged detectives, tongue-in-cheek "casting calls", and short clips that feel like inside jokes between filmmaker and viewer - this is the content on Kaisi Yeh Paheli's Instagram feed.
An indie film usually makes its presence felt on the festival circuit, or through word of mouth. Kaisi Yeh Paheli's writer and director Ananyabrata Chakravorty says, "If a film is primarily made for the festival circuit, it often struggles to connect with wider audiences. Only the festival crowd ends up watching it."
It's Catch-22, as indie films often lack the budget of big productions to market the film the traditional way. But Kaisi Yeh Paheli has made people laugh, click, and care before it even hits theatres, thanks to its social media push.
Chakravorty says, "If we make independent films that are also entertaining and want to connect with audiences, then a social media campaign makes a lot of sense. It aligns with that goal of reaching people."
The dark comedy opens with a bizarre premise: a lonely mother forced to solve a crime just so she can talk to her estranged son. Chakravorty says, "The idea came to me around 2016. I was thinking about old-age loneliness and my own inability to connect with my mother."
While the film made its rounds on the festival circuit, having its world premiere at the NYIFF 2025, and was an Opening Film of Yellowstone Film Festival. It also found an unlikely second home: Instagram.
Behind the digital disruption is social media consultant and creator Pulkit Kochar, whose work has helped the film's Instagram Reels gain up to ten lakh views. Kochar's strategy was simple: treat the film's Instagram like a character in the movie. The result is a page that feels more like a personality than a marketing tool, each post crafted to reflect the film's sardonic, self-aware tone. "People don't want another film poster in their feed," Kochar says. "They want something they can share with a friend."
Of course marketing is a given, but what's different here is that a consultant was hired especially for social media, and was even named in the film's credits. Kochar, who first watched the film at a private screening through a friend, recalls, "I saw the film and immediately loved it. It was smart, engaging. It had heart. When Nishu [Dikshit, the film's producer] asked if I wanted to come on board, it just made sense."
The sensibility has caught attention not just from audiences, but also from filmmakers and marketers wondering if this might signal a shift. Chakravorty points to recent examples like Dilli Dark and Stolen, festival darlings that found wider audiences thanks to clever digital buzz. "Those are the kinds of films we need more of," he adds, "Movies that are independent in spirit, but not alienating. The kind you can show your parents or your college friends."
Still, for all the digital success, Chakravorty knows that the real test lies ahead. Kaisi Yeh Paheli opens in Indian theatres on November 28, and while the early reviews have been glowing, he admits to a mix of excitement and anxiety.
"I'm confident about the film," he says. "But you never really know how many people will show up at the theatre."
He pauses, then laughs softly. "If the first three days go well, if Friday to Sunday fills up even a little, I know word of mouth will take over. That's what I'm hoping for. The film just needs to find its people." If the internet is anything to go by, it already has.
