"Even the chief minister of West Bengal came out with his opinion in favour of the hanging after an opinion poll showed an overwhelming 64 percent of respondents voting for the execution. An opinion after the opinion poll is no opinion," said Joseph.

"Blurring the borders of fiction and non-fiction is something which comes naturally to me in filmmaking. But in 'One Day from...' I tried to de-fictionalise the non-fiction by retreating into the cell-like room of the hangman for a whole day before the hanging," said Joseph.

"At the end of the day.. the TRP... the circulation.. the vote bank and the sales matter. In the Dhananjoy episode the same happened. Nata, who took the opportunity to press for a job for his grandson, was not the only person who capitalised on the situation. Everyone did," said Joseph.

"The film naturally becomes a self-criticism of our social system itself. It shows the bipolarity of emotions of how we revel in crime, in violence and relish things we deny in waking life," he said.

"The inhuman social act of hanging which a man is destined to do, theoretically raises him to a level which is superior to all other human beings. But his concerns about his grandson's job links the whole story - of a father, a grandfather, a super man and a social man," said Joseph who drew inspiration from Adoor Gopalakrishnan's famous film on a hangman, "Nizhalkkuthu" (Shadow Kill).

Joseph's film, which makes one feel suffocated at times, also entertains with its elements of black comedy because of the media circus that unfolded before the camera.

The film was produced by Suvendu Chatterjee of Drik India and Wings and Roots Cinema.