The Indian feature documentary project Silver Linings, presented at Docedge Kalkota 2026, was awarded March 9 the Sunny Side of the Doc Prize, which comprises two free Market Passes for Sunny Side of the Doc 2026, taking place June 22 to 24, 2026, in La Rochelle, France. Silver Linings is directed by Kanishka Sonthalia & Siddesh Shetty, and produced by Kopuku Films (India).
In the 90-minute film, budgeted at $250,000 and expected for delivery in May 2028, we follow seniors across India slip into friendship clubs and speed-dating events to claim love, and the possibility of a new beginning, all the time entering the liminal space between longing and taboo.
Docedge Kolkata, Asian Forum for Documentary, is a prominent international documentary cinema platform for nurturing new generation filmmaking talents from India and across Asia.
The annual documentary event comprises story-development labs and co-production industry meet-ups, incubation-cum-pitching forum for Indian and Asian filmmakers, and a meticulously curated festival of Indian and international documentaries of artistic excellence. The forum is dedicated to the intensive development of creative storytelling skills and the creation of international co-production opportunities.
SILVER LINING SYNOPSIS
In many parts of the world, love in later life is ordinary. But in India, it is considered immoral, whispered about, or denied, even by those who crave it the most. Elders living on their own, some with children settled elsewhere and others grieving a partner, are expected to hide their loneliness behind devotion and restraint. Silver Linings enters this space between longing and taboo, beginning in community halls where seniors gather for speed-dating events. Numbered badges, nervous laughter, blunt introductions, people admitting they don’t want to be alone anymore.
From here, the film moves into three private worlds. In Pune, Milind, a meticulous retiree rebuilding himself after his wife’s death, grows close to Nanda, a stoic caregiver who hides her own vulnerability behind work. Their companionship deepens into an unspoken decision to live together. In Delhi’s old-age home,
Swatantra and his younger roommate Jagdish form an unlikely friendship: one slowing down, the other full of life. Their evenings; karaoke rehearsals, small rituals soften the fear of time. In Chennai, a secret romance begins with playful WhatsApp forwards which grows into lunches, matinee movies, and a choice that forces a confrontation with their children, exposing how modern families still expect their parents to follow societal norms.
The film ends in quiet defiance: a modest wedding, and elders from a friendship club standing by the sea, steady and unafraid. Silver Linings is a portrait of desire that refuses to fade, and the quiet courage to seek joy at any age.
