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Tag: Ritesh Batra

  • National Film Development Corporation reveals 2024 Screenwriters’ Lab finalists

    National Film Development Corporation reveals 2024 Screenwriters’ Lab finalists

    Mumbai: National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) received more than 150 applications this year from 21 states out of which six projects of various genres have been selected for the 17th edition of NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab, an ongoing initiative to develop, nurture, and promote original voices from all over India. The six screenwriters, who also happen to be filmmakers of ad films, short films, novelist, documentaries, and feature films, have written the selected scripts in multiple languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Pahadi, Punjabi, Assamese, Malayalam, Konyak, English & Maithili.

    “We, at NFDC, strongly feel that a well-written script forms the foundation of a compelling story, engaging characters, and meaningful dialogue, all of which are essential elements of a successful film. We are at the forefront of not only training our writers to better develop their unique stories, but also pitch them successfully to domestic and international producers and investors at Film Bazaar, while keeping industry trends and practices in mind,” said NFDC Film Bazaar team

    The three-part intensive Screenwriters’ Lab is part of NFDC Labs’ ongoing initiative to develop original voices and stories from India. Selected participants work closely with noted mentors in an intensive 5-month program to fine-tune existing screenplays through personalized interactions and group sessions under the guidance of acclaimed script experts from India and around the  world. Aimed at domestic as well as international markets, the projects will be pitched to  producers and investors in a specially designed session during Film Bazaar 2024.

    The six selected projects for NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab 2024 are as follows:

    1.  Hawa Mithai by (CANDY FLOSS) Anuritta K Jha – Maithili & Hindi

    A six year-old village boy Tundu and his best friend Bullu set out on a heart-warming and fantastical journey to eat the Sun inspired by the legend of Lord Hanumanji, in order to win back his mother’s love.

    2.  I’ll Smile in September by Aakash Chhabra – Hindi, Urdu, Pahadi & Punjabi

    After getting separated from the love of his life and losing his front teeth in a brutal altercation which ensues after it, a young brass band player in Old Delhi attempts to move on in life by finding his smile back.

    3.  Kalaa Kaali (The Art Of The Dark) by Anam Danish – English & Hindi

    Two siblings along with their friends, investigate a death in the family only to discover a generational curse that looms over them and set out to end it by using their family’s tradition of black magic.

    4.  Konyak by Uddhav Ghosh – Konyak Naga & Hindi & English

    On the fringe of civilisation, amidst Nagaland’s unforgiving beauty, a deadly feud erupts between legendary headhunting tribes. Young warrior Thungpang Konyak, burdened by prophetic visions and haunted by betrayal, embarks on a relentless chase to protect his community and reclaim honor, confronting his former friend turned mortal enemy Sangba, as brother turns against brother in a brutal struggle for survival.

    5.  Mangal – The Holy Beast by Triparna Maiti – Assamese, Malayalam & Hindi

    Captured as an elephant calf, Mangal encounters both love and loss as he is made to join the world of humans. Transported from one place to another, changing hands, he ultimately becomes a revered deity worshiped as God, yet tied in chains, until he decides to break free.

    6.  Piyush Ki Toh…Nikal Padi (To Pee or Not To Pee) by Piyush Srivastava – Hindi

    Piyush, a charming 32-year old, faces a comedic nightmare on his first visit to his in-laws when a packing mistake leaves him without Adult Diapers, risking exposure of his embarrassing bedwetting problem. He must navigate a hilarious & heart-warming journey to procure new ones with his supportive wife’s help, all while keeping his secret hidden.

    About Mentors

    This year’s mentors include the founder of NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab (features) Marten Rabarts (New Zealand), Claire Dobbin (Australia), Ritesh Shah (India)

    1. Marten Rabarts – With more than 30 years of experience in the film industry, Marten Rabarts held his most recent position as the Festival Director of the New Zealand International Film Festival, following nearly 5 years heading EYE International at the EYE, the national film museum of the Netherlands. Prior to this, Marten served as the Head of Development and Training at NFDC India in Mumbai, where he established NFDC LABS, contributing to the success of films like The Lunchbox and Titli, among many others. Previously, Rabarts was Artistic Director of Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam for 12 years, which saw such successes as Michael Roskam’s Bullhead, cult hit The Babadook by Jennifer Kent, Cannes-winning Salvo by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, and Adina Pintilie’s 2018 Golden Bear Award winner Touch Me Not. Furthermore, Marten was a founding member of the advisory board of Torino Film Lab, is a voting member of the European Film Academy, served on the board of European Film Promotion, and regularly serves on festival juries, including the Berlinale (Short Film Jury, Generation 14plus, Teddy Awards), Skip City Tokyo, Adelaide Film Festival, and Guanajuato Film Festival, among others.

    2. Claire Dobbin – Claire is a globally active script editor, executive producer, and creative producer, collaborating with development agencies, screenwriters, producers, and directors. She has been serving as a script advisor since 2005 for the prestigious international script workshop éQuinoxe Europe, participating as a jury member in key international film festivals, and also organizing and leading international screenwriting workshops in diverse locations such as Italy, Ukraine, India, Norway, Doha, Dubai, Iran, Germany, and New Zealand. From 1986 to 2000, Claire held the position of Senior Executive (Creative) at Australia’s national screen agency. Between 2003 and 2019, Claire chaired the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), overseeing initiatives that made MIFF a cornerstone of the industry. She secured funds for MIFF’s international film finance market and established the MIFF Premiere Fund, investing in over 50 Australian films that premiered at MIFF. Claire’s achievements include receiving the Order of Australia (AM) for Services to the Australian Film Industry in 2017 and the Jill Robb Award for outstanding leadership in the Victorian Screen Industry in 2019. Currently, Claire serves as the executive producer for several films and is actively involved in script editing international feature films and TV series across New Zealand, Australia, Europe, India, and the United States.

    3. Ritesh Shah – Ritesh Shah did his Bachelors in English Literature from Hindu College (1993-1996) and has done his Masters in Mass Communications from MCRC, Jamia Milia Islamia. He began his career as a playwright with Act One Art Group, New Delhi. His works include the fringe award winner Othello – A play in black and white. Ritesh switched to television in 1999. His television writing credits include Josh, Kashmeer, Krishna Arjun and the award winning series Kagaar. Ritesh Shah began his film career by contributing dialogue to movies like Kahaani and Namastey London and then went on to co-write films like D-day and Airlift. His solo screenplay and dialogue credits include films like B.A. Pass, Citylights, Force, the critically acclaimed Pink and Raid. Ritesh Shah has been nominated for Filmfare award for best story for B.A.Pass and best screenplay for D-day for which he also won a Zee Cine Awards Nomination. He won the Filmfare, Zee Cine and Star Screen awards for best dialogue for Pink.

    Previous, award-winning projects that have originated from the NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab include LUNCHBOX (Ritesh Batra), LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA (Alankrita Shrivastava), DUM LAGA KE HAISHA (Sharat Katariya), TITLI (Kanu Behl), SHAB (Onir), A DEATH IN THE GUNJ (Konkona Sen Sharma), ISLAND CITY (Ruchika Oberoi), BOMBAY ROSE (Gitanjali Rao), and CHUSKIT (Priya Ramasubban), In the Belly of a Tiger (Siddartha Jatla), Fire in the Mountains (Ajitpal Singh) Ullozhukku (Christo Tomy) just to name a few.
     

  • PVR picks up Ritesh Batra’s ‘The Sense of an Ending’ for India

    PVR picks up Ritesh Batra’s ‘The Sense of an Ending’ for India

    MUMBAI: FilmNation Entertainment, which holds the worldwide rights of Ritesh Batra’s The Sense of an Ending, has completed international sales for the movie at Berlin’s European Film Market.

    In major deals across various territories, PVR has acquired the India rights of the film from FilmNation Entertainment.

    On the other hand, Sony has acquired Latin America and Eastern Europe; Wild Bunch has closed France, Germany, Italy and Spain; Studiocanal took the UK; and Fox International Channels has acquired Pan-Asian pay TV rights.

    In other deals, Longride (Japan), Roadshow (Australia), Svensk (Scandinavia), Mediasoft (South Korea), and Lumiere (Benelux) have picked up the drama that stars the Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent along with Harriet Walter, Emily Mortimer, Michelle Dockery and Charlotte Rampling.

    Among other territories closed are Greece (Spentzos), Israel (Lev), the Middle East (Italia), Portugal (Lusomundo),Switzerland (Frenetic), Turkey (Aqua), Hong Kong (Edko), India (PVR), Indonesia (Prima Cinema), Singapore (Shaw Renters) and South Africa (Ster Kinekor).

    The movie stars Broadbent as a recluse who is forced to face the devastating legacy of his first love and revise his understanding of his own nature.

    The film is co-financed by BBC Films and produced by Origin Pictures.

    Batra says, “It’s been a real pleasure to adapt Julian Barnes’s great novel to the screen, I loved working with the writer Nick Payne and with production. These are exciting times as the film has sold all over the World, I do believe that it is a matter of time before we make Indian stories with great Indian actors that will travel more than or as much as English language cinema does.”

    Batra’s previous film, the critically acclaimed hit The Lunchbox, starring Irrfan Khan, and Nimrat Kaur, was BAFTA nominated and won the Viewers’ Choice Award at the 2014 Cannes Festival.

  • PVR picks up Ritesh Batra’s ‘The Sense of an Ending’ for India

    PVR picks up Ritesh Batra’s ‘The Sense of an Ending’ for India

    MUMBAI: FilmNation Entertainment, which holds the worldwide rights of Ritesh Batra’s The Sense of an Ending, has completed international sales for the movie at Berlin’s European Film Market.

    In major deals across various territories, PVR has acquired the India rights of the film from FilmNation Entertainment.

    On the other hand, Sony has acquired Latin America and Eastern Europe; Wild Bunch has closed France, Germany, Italy and Spain; Studiocanal took the UK; and Fox International Channels has acquired Pan-Asian pay TV rights.

    In other deals, Longride (Japan), Roadshow (Australia), Svensk (Scandinavia), Mediasoft (South Korea), and Lumiere (Benelux) have picked up the drama that stars the Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent along with Harriet Walter, Emily Mortimer, Michelle Dockery and Charlotte Rampling.

    Among other territories closed are Greece (Spentzos), Israel (Lev), the Middle East (Italia), Portugal (Lusomundo),Switzerland (Frenetic), Turkey (Aqua), Hong Kong (Edko), India (PVR), Indonesia (Prima Cinema), Singapore (Shaw Renters) and South Africa (Ster Kinekor).

    The movie stars Broadbent as a recluse who is forced to face the devastating legacy of his first love and revise his understanding of his own nature.

    The film is co-financed by BBC Films and produced by Origin Pictures.

    Batra says, “It’s been a real pleasure to adapt Julian Barnes’s great novel to the screen, I loved working with the writer Nick Payne and with production. These are exciting times as the film has sold all over the World, I do believe that it is a matter of time before we make Indian stories with great Indian actors that will travel more than or as much as English language cinema does.”

    Batra’s previous film, the critically acclaimed hit The Lunchbox, starring Irrfan Khan, and Nimrat Kaur, was BAFTA nominated and won the Viewers’ Choice Award at the 2014 Cannes Festival.

  • ‘The Lunchbox’ gets nominated at BAFTAS

    ‘The Lunchbox’ gets nominated at BAFTAS

    NEW DELHI: The internationally lauded and awarded The Lunchbox by Ritesh Batra has become the first Indian film since 1990 to be nominated at the BAFTA awards since Salaam Bombay.

     

    The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominated the film in the ‘Best film not in the English language category.

     

    Producer Guneet Monga was ecstatic at this nomination. “We are so happy that our faith in Ritesh and The Lunchbox is paying off so beautifully. It’s a film we are very proud of and earning a Foreign Film nomination is yet another reassurance that great content will always go a long way. I would like to say a big thank you to the HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) and the BAFTA jury,” said Monga.

     

    The award ceremony will be held on 8 February in London.

     

    The Lunchbox is a 2013 Indian epistolary romantic film written and directed by Ritesh Batra, and produced by Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap, and Arun Rangachari. The film was jointly produced by various studios including DAR motion pictures, UTV Motion Pictures, Dharma Productions, Sikhya Entertainment, NFDC (India), ROH Films (Germany), ASAP Films (France), and the Cine Mosaic (United States).

     

    It stars Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles. The film was screened at International Critics’ Week at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and later won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award also known as Grand Rail d’Or.

     

    It was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in India on 20 September 2013.

     

  • The Lunchbox bags Star Box Office India award

    The Lunchbox bags Star Box Office India award

    MUMBAI: Described as a defining film in Indian cinema, The Lunchbox which has won numerous domestic and international accolades in its slight over a year’s run at the box office won yet another award. It was recently conferred the Film with the Best Return on Investment award at the Star Box Office India 2014 awards. DAR Motion Pictures producer Vivek Rangachari and Guneet Monga from Sikhya Entertainment were present on the occasion to receive the award.

     

    The film is a story about a mistaken delivery in Mumbai’s famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox. Gradually, this fantasy threatens to overwhelm their reality. The film is an example of global collaboration with studios from India, USA, France and Germany coming together to produce a film that strikes a chord with global audiences. One of the top-rated film by critics in India this year, it was distributed in the US by Sony Classic Pictures.

     

    Commenting on the award Rangachari said “When the script of The Lunchbox came to me, I was sure this movie will do great but the kind of response we have got from India as well as globally is way beyond all expectations. DAR is really happy to be a part of the project which has created a new path for Indian cinema nationally and globally.”
    Written and directed by Ritesh Batra, the film has released globally in various countries like UK, USA, New Zealand, France, Germany, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, China, Columbia, Malaysia, Italy, Israel, Hungary, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, Middle East, Singapore amongst others. Furthermore, it has been showcased in various film festivals including The Cannes Film Festival, The Telluride Film Festival, The Toronto Film Festival, The London Film Festival, etc. winning various awards like Viewers Choice Award at the International Critics’ Week, Best Film at The London Film Festival and The Filmfare awards, to name a few.

     

    Produced by Arun Rangachari of Dar Motion Pictures (India) and Guneet Monga and Anurag Kashyap of Sikhya Entertainment (India), The Lunchbox has been co-produced by Vivek Rangachari, Nina Lath Gupta of NFDC (India), Karan Johar (Dharma Productions), UTV Motion Pictures, Shanaab Alam, Sunil John, Nittin Keni, Karsten Stöter and Benny Drechsel of Rohfilm (Germany), Cedomir Kolar and Marc Baschet of ASAP Films (France), Danis Tanovic and executive produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher of CineMosaic, Irrfan and Ritesh Batra.

     

  • Three Indian films at Durban International Film Festival

    Three Indian films at Durban International Film Festival

    NEW DELHI: Ritesh Batra’s Lunchbox and Anup Singh’s Qissa, the two Indian films that have swept international film festivals over the past year, will be among the three Indian films at the 35th edition of the Durban International Film Festival.

     

    Jayan K. Cherian’s Papilio Buddha will be the third Indian film at the festival to be held from 17 to 27 July.

     

    A total of around 69 feature films, 60 documentaries and 57 short films will be screened.

     

    Qissa will be screened as part of a special package of films on Gender and Sexuality as it is a film that blurs the boundaries of gender and genre in its story of a girl who is brought up as a boy.

     

    The Lunchbox– a tale of an isolated housewife who tries to reignite her relationship with her husband through a friendship she forms with someone who receives her delicious meals – will be screened in World Cinema section.

     

    Also in the World Cinema section is Papilio Buddha, the story of a university-educated son of a Dalit activist who is politically apathetic until he receives bad treatment at the hands of the state.

     

    The film was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival early this year.

  • Two Indian movies nominated for the 8th Asian Film Awards

    Two Indian movies nominated for the 8th Asian Film Awards

    NEW DELHI: The Lunchbox by Ritesh Batra may have failed to make it to the Academy nominations but it figures prominently in the nominations for the Asian version of the Oscars — the 8th Asian Film Awards.

     

    The awards are to be presented on 27 March at a ceremony to be held at the City of Dreams casino resort in Macau, and the nominations were announced in Hong Kong over the weekend.

     

    The Lunchbox has been nominated for the best film award and Ritesh Batra has been nominated for the best screenplay while actor Irrfan Khan is in the list of best actor awards.

     

    The only other Indian film to make it to the nominations is Bhag Milka Bhag by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the music composers of which – Shankar Ehsaan Loy – have been nominated for best music category.

     

    Renowned filmmaker Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster topped with eleven nominations including best film and best director out of 14 categories. The highly stylised martial arts drama opened the Berlin festival this time last year.

     

    After being organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited (HKIFF) for the past seven years, this year’s award is being organised by the new Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA), a combined effort between the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), and the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

     

    Competing closely with Wong Kar-wai is Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi fantasy Snowpiercer with five nominations including best film and best director.

     

    A total of 28 films from ten countries and regions have been nominated this year from over a thousand eligible films. Hong Kong films have the most nominations with a total of 19 shared between The Grandmaster (11 nominations), Rigor Mortis (4 nominations), Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (3 nominations) and The Way We Dance (1 nomination).

     

    Films from South Korea and Japan are tied at 14 nominations each. In addition to the five recognitions for Snowpiercer, the nominated South Korean films are Cold Eyes (4 nominations), The Attorney (3 nominations), Mr. Go (1 nomination) and The Face Reader (1 nomination).

     

    The 14 nominations for films from Japan are shared between The Great Passage (3 nominations), Like Father, Like Son (3 nominations), Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (3 nominations), Tokyo Family (2 nominations), Backwater (1 nomination), and The Ravine of Goodbye (1 nomination).

     

    HKIFF’s chairman Wilfred Wong is Chairman of the AFAA committee, which also includes BIFF’s Lee Yong-kwan and TIFF’s Shiina Yasushi.

     

    Director Peter Chan is serving as this year’s jury president, with Donnie Yen joining as a “celebrity jury” member. The two are joined by the Philippines’ Ronald Arguelles, Indonesia’s John Badalu, Japan’s Ishizaaka Kenji, France’s Christian Jeune, Singapore’s Eric Khoo, South Korea’s Lee Yong-kwan, Thailand’s Kong Rithdee, Taiwan’s Wen Tien-hsiang as well as Hong Kong’s Jacob Wong and Patricia Cheng.

     

    “Each industry, although successful commercially, is becoming more and more localised, catering to the taste of local audiences. As a result there are fewer channels for crossover distribution outside local markets. I think AFA is not only important in its celebration of Asian film and filmmakers, but an event that can bring Asian films together,” says Chan.

     

    For the first time this year, the award ceremony has been moved to a venue outside of Hong Kong, to a casino resort in neighbouring Macau. While the ceremony is traditionally held on the first day of the Hong Kong FilMart, this year’s ceremony will be held on 27 March, the final day of this year’s film market.

  • Ritesh Batra’s ‘Lunchbox’ awarded at APSA

    Ritesh Batra’s ‘Lunchbox’ awarded at APSA

    NEW DELHI: Director Ritesh Batra won the best award for Screenplay in Lunchbox and also the Grand Jury Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane recently.

     

    The film – which has already won a large number of laurels worldwide – had recently also won three awards at the 56th Asia-Pacific Film Festival award ceremony held in Macau.

     

    Renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal was chairman of the jury for the annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards where Anurag Kashyap’s film Ugly had also been entered in competition. Other jury members were Korean screenwriter and director Kim Tae-yong, “Queen of Sri Lankan Cinema” actress of stage and screen Hon Dr Malani Fonseka, Turkish actor Tamer Levent, Swiss director Christoph Schaub and Hong Kong producer Albert Lee. The preview committee included film critic Meenakshi Shedde from India.

     

    The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative of the State Government of Queensland, Australia, through Events Queensland, to honour and promote the films, actors, directors, and cultures of Asia-Pacific to a global audience and to realise the objectives of UNESCO to promote and preserve the respective cultures through the influential medium of film.

     

    Staged for the first time in 2007, APSA collaborates with UNESCO and FIAPF – the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, which is the body that recognises international film festivals. Winners are determined by an international jury and films are judged on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins. APSA takes the works of filmmakers across more than 70 countries and areas in the Asia-Pacific region to new international audiences.

    The FIAPF Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film was given to Korean film producer Lee Choon-yun by FIAPF Executive Member and Film Federation of India Secretary General Supran Sen. This award celebrates a filmmaker from the region whose career and actions strongly contribute to the development of the film industry.

     

    The awards are the Asia Pacific region’s highest accolade in film, recognising and promoting cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world’s fastest growing film region: comprising 70 countries and areas, 4.5 billion people, and responsible for half of the world’s film output.

     

    There were a total of over 230 films from 41 countries and areas, including Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film submissions from an unprecedented 19 countries.

  • Lunch Box among four Indian films competing for 7th Asia Pacific Screen Awards

    Lunch Box among four Indian films competing for 7th Asia Pacific Screen Awards

    NEW DELHI: ‘Goopy Gawaiyaa Bagha Bajaiyaa’ by Shilpa Ranade, the animation film which is opening the International Children’s Film Festival of India, is among the 39 films from 22 countries will compete in the 7th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane on 12 December.

    A total of four Indian films including Ritesh Batra’s Lunch Box are among the nominated films for the awards.

    The jury headed by Indian director Shyam Benegal, are South Korean director Kim Tae-yong,Sri Lankan actress Malini Fonseka, Turkish actor Tamer Levent, Swiss director Christoph Schaub and Hong Kong producer Albert Lee.

    For the first time there are nominations from Bangladesh, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. They come within the event’s broad definition of “Asia Pacific” that includes 70 territories with a combined population of 4.5 billion.

    Hany Abu-Assad’s Omar (pictured) from Palestine received the most nominations. It is shortlisted for Best Feature Film as well in addition to nominations for actor Adam Bakri and cinematographer Ehab Assal.

    The country with the most nominations is Japan, with six nominations in five categories, including Best Feature Film for Kore-eda Hirokazu’s family drama Like Father, Like Son.

    The five other Best Feature nominations are Bangladesh’s Television, Sri Lanka’s With You, Without You Oba nathuwa oba ekka, Australia’s The Turning Point and Iran’s The Past (Le Passé).
     

  • The Lunchbox, Monsoon Shootout travelling to more festivals overseas

    The Lunchbox, Monsoon Shootout travelling to more festivals overseas

    NEW DELHI: The Lunchbox directed by Ritesh Batra appears to be garnering much more attention than it would have got at the Oscars. The film has visited many international festivals and is set to go to two more soon.

     

    The Lunchbox will compete at the 24th Stockholm Film Festival being held from 6 to 17 November, and at the American Film Institute Festival from 7 to 14 November.

     

    Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout and Remo D’Souza’s Any Body Can Dance (ABCD) will screen under the Asian Images section in Stockholm.

     

    The Lunchbox, making its Nordic Premiere at the festival, will compete with films like Paul Wright’s For Those in Peril, Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo and Amat Escalante’s Heli. The section showcases directors making their first, second or third feature film. 

     

    Monsoon Shootout has earlier been screened at Cannes, Durban, Sydney, Jerusalem and London Indian Film Festivals. Remo D’Souza’s Any Body Can Dance (ABCD) is a 3D dance film directed and choreographed by Remo D’Souza and produced by UTV.

     

    Meanwhile, a total of 32 titles will be screened in the World Cinema section of the AFI. The complete programme includes 119 films (83 features, 36 shorts) from 43 countries.

     

    The Lunchbox, featuring Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, had its world premiere at the International Critics’ Week of the Cannes Film Festival and has since travelled to several important festivals including Telluride, Toronto, Karlovy Vary, Zurich and BFI London.