‘THE UNDYING’ — Bengali Gothic Horror Based on Rabindranath Tagore Story Secures Worldwide Sales Ahead of AFM
‘THE UNDYING’ — Bengali Gothic Horror Based on Rabindranath Tagore Story Secures Worldwide Sales Ahead of AFM
California Pictures has acquired worldwide sales rights to THE UNDYING, a Bengali-language gothic horror film from Los Angeles-based AK Studios. The completed India-U.S. production will be introduced to international buyers at the American Film Market, with additional presentations planned for the European Film Market in Berlin and the Cannes Film Market in 2027.
Adapted from a short story by Nobel Prize-winning Bengali author Rabindranath Tagore, THE UNDYING takes place in 19th-century rural Bengal, where a young widow's apparent death leads to an unsettling confrontation with the community she once called home.
The story follows Kadambini, a woman who is declared dead and prepared for cremation. However, she unexpectedly awakens and returns to her village, only to discover that her family and neighbors refuse to accept that she is alive.
Her return introduces a central question surrounding the nature of life and death, as the community's beliefs and social customs become obstacles to her attempts to reclaim her identity.
The film draws its premise from Tagore's short story LIVING OR DEAD, also known as KADAMBINI, a work that examines the relationship between individual existence, social identity and the treatment of widows in traditional Bengali society.
Rather than approaching the material as a conventional supernatural thriller, THE UNDYING is described as an atmospheric, slow-burning gothic horror film that emphasizes ritual, isolation and psychological uncertainty.
The period setting provides a backdrop for exploring how cultural expectations and deeply rooted beliefs influence the community's response to Kadambini's return.
Samman Roy wrote, directed and edited the adaptation, marking another collaboration with AK Studios following his previous folk-horror feature THE EXILE.
Sree Bhattacharyya and Arpita De lead the cast.
The production continues Roy's involvement with horror narratives rooted in South Asian cultural traditions, combining historical settings with themes of superstition, mortality and social exclusion.
AK Studios describes THE UNDYING as a film designed to connect literary source material with contemporary international genre audiences through its emphasis on atmosphere and period detail.
The project is produced by Awadhesh Kumar, founder of AK Studios and former Global Head of Distribution at India's National Film Development Corporation.
Mona Singh, Sumitra Kumari and Nina Kim serve as co-producers, while Steven Istock, Isaac Bess and Laura Cunningham are attached as executive producers.
Kumar expressed confidence in the film's international prospects following its reception among industry professionals in the United States and Europe.
"THE UNDYING has received tremendous love from industry peers across both sides of the Atlantic," Kumar said in the announcement.
He also emphasized California Pictures' international distribution network and its potential to introduce the production to audiences across multiple territories.
The agreement places THE UNDYING within California Pictures' international sales catalog, which has previously included films such as A WARRIOR'S HEART, SCAVENGERS and FILTH, the latter starring James McAvoy, Imogen Poots and Jim Broadbent.
Steven Istock, President and CEO of California Pictures, described the film as a distinctive genre production with international appeal.
"THE UNDYING is exactly the kind of intellectual, distinctive genre film that has worldwide appeal, an eerie period horror that keeps you hooked," Istock stated.
The company intends to preview the film for buyers at the American Film Market before presenting it more formally at the European Film Market in Berlin. A subsequent screening is planned for the Cannes Film Market in May 2027.
The acquisition comes as international distributors continue to seek genre productions that incorporate regional folklore, historical settings and culturally specific storytelling.
THE UNDYING's source material provides a particularly notable foundation, drawing from one of South Asia's most influential literary figures.
Tagore, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, frequently examined social conventions, gender roles and the relationship between individual identity and collective expectations.
His story of Kadambini presents a premise that lends itself to gothic horror, particularly through the disturbing contradiction of a woman who knows she is alive but is treated by her community as though she belongs among the dead.
The adaptation also introduces the possibility of examining the social position of widows in 19th-century Bengal, where restrictive customs could determine a woman's status and independence.
These elements position THE UNDYING as a period horror production in which the central threat may emerge as much from social rejection and institutional beliefs as from the possibility of supernatural events.
The film joins AK Studios' expanding South Asian production slate, which also includes AN IDIOT, an absurdist political comedy from NIRVANA INN director Vijay Jayapal.
With the film completed and international sales underway, THE UNDYING is now seeking distribution agreements across global markets.
No theatrical release date, streaming platform or North American distribution arrangement has been announced.
California Pictures will introduce THE UNDYING at the American Film Market, followed by planned market presentations in Berlin and Cannes in 2027.
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