India’s Drishyam Films is teaming with France’s Backup Media to co-produce an anthology film, Tryst With Destiny, directed by rising Indian filmmaker Prashant Nair.
Currently in production, the film will comprise four short stories that tackle different issues that have plagued India since independence. The title of the film is taken from a famous speech by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, to the country’s parliament on the eve of independence on August 14, 1947.
Cast on the film includes actors known for their work in Hindi independent cinema, such as Vineet Kumar Singh (Gangs Of Wasseypur), Geetanjali Thapa (Liar’s Dice) and Amit Sial (Titli), as well as renowned South Indian actors Prakash Raj and Suhasini Maniratnam.
Nair’s credits include Umrika, also produced by Drishyam, which won the audience award in the World Cinema - Dramatic section of the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. In addition, Avinash Arun, who won a Crystal Bear at the Berlinale in 2014 for his directing debut, Marathi-language drama Killa, is on board as cinematographer for the film.
“After Umrika, we’re really looking forward to working with Prashant again,” said Drishyam Films founder Manish Mundra. “Tryst With Destiny is a film that does not shy away from portraying many of the grim realities of life in India. But at the heart of it, it’s four beautiful stories of very real characters from different parts of India, coming together seamlessly to find their own place of pride and joy in their country.”
Mundra added: “We’re also very happy to partner with Backup Media, who have helped us develop and nurture this project right from the start. With their global expertise, we hope to get the right kind of platform to showcase this film on the international stage.”
The film marks the first Indo-French co-production for Drishyam since Masaan, co-produced with Pathe and Macassar Productions, which won the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes in 2015.
Drishyam is attending Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) with Hardik Mehta’s Round Figure, which is receiving its world premiere in the festival’s A Window on Asian Cinema section.
Set to screen tomorrow (October 10), the film stars Sanjay Mishra (Masaan, Ankhon Dekhi) as a seasoned character actor who decides to come out of retirement on a quest to find that elusive 500th role for which he will be remembered forever.
The film is the first co-production between Drishyam and India’s Eros International under a four-picture deal signed at the end of last year. The second co-production under the deal, Ganesh Shetty’s Anonymous, about a woman and her relationship with society as she goes through the process of having an abortion, is scheduled to start shooting next week.
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