Indian magic on the international red carpet

Flmmaker Anurag Kashyap remembers the time when he had heard Vikramaditya Motwane's (inset) film script.

"I laughed at him and told him that no one except me would produce his film," says Kashyap. The prolific filmmaker, Kashyap -- whose films are often branded 'unconventional' -- worked with Motwane on Deepa Mehta's film Water.

Kashyap was the dialogue writer while Motwane was the choreographer. Later, when Kashyap was shooting for his film Paanch, he opted for Motwane.

Says Kashyap, "I'd loved the way Vikramaditya had shot the Aankhon ki gustakhiyan song in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, and opted for him in my film."

While Kashyap saw potential in Motwane's script, film production company UTV Motion Pictures backed it too. A film about a teenager who returns from his boarding school to Jamshedpur, his hometown, after a hiatus of eight years, Udaan looks at the relationship of this boy with his father. In Motwane's own words, it's about teenage angst and the anguish of a boy who is growing up in an emotional vacuum.

And while Motwane admits that "my biggest challenge has been raising money for this film", Udaan has been grabbing headlines because of its official selection for the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.

"I'm excited and nervous," says Motwane. Udaan, for the record, has been featured in the 'Un Certain Regard' category after 16 years and is the first Hindi film to be officially selected in this category. The first film screened in the same category was Swaham (1994), a Malayalam film.

"The film is for an Indian audience and while we're awaiting its release in India, getting global recognition through film fests is an icing on the cake," adds Motwane.

But Udaan is not alone. A clutch of film studios/production houses and independent producers are coming forward and promoting films, not just in India but also abroad, showcasing them to a wider audience at prestigious international film festivals.

Take debutante director Anusha Rizvi's (inset) film which has been backed by Aamir Khan Productions and UTV.

Called Peepli Live, the film is yet to be released in India but has already been featured at numerous film festivals globally.

The film, starring seasoned actor Raghubir Yadav and a clutch of theatre actors from the late Habib Tanvir's Naya Theatre repertory, is a satirical take on the epidemic of farmer suicides that has plagued India in the past decade.

Peepli Live is the first Indian film to be selected at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition category. It was also screened at the 60th Berlin Film Festival recently.

Apart from UTV, a couple of films made by Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) have also been doing the rounds of film festivals abroad.

Ek Tho Chance and Saluun, for example, directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza (inset) made it to the 43rd WorldFest Houston International Film Festival held April 9-18, 2010.

Ek Tho Chance also made it to the 'Cinema Today' section of the recently concluded 23rd Singapore International Film Festival.

The film also won the 'Remi Special Jury Award' and Saluun won the 'Silver Remi in Comedy Special Jury Award' in the 43rd WorldFest Houston International Film Festival.

While Ek Tho Chance will travel to the London Indian Film Festival in July this year, Saluun is travelling to the Venice Film Festival next month.

Interestingly, while big-budget Bollywood films like Raavan and Kites will continue to get showcased at international film festivals this year, modest-budget films like Udaan (made at Rs 3 crore), Peepli Live, Ek Tho Chance and Saluun, to name a few, hold well on their own, too.

Reasons Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, UTV, "We have always supported films we believe in; we enjoy giving breaks to new talent."

Not surprisingly, UTV has grand plans for Udaan. "We will take the film to a worldwide audience, international distributors and sales agents. The film has received tremendous buyer interest in Cannes, especially from Europe, South America, North America and the Far East," says Kapur.

But how -- and why -- does it help to take these 'offbeat' films to an international audience?

The obvious reason is that it opens up a wider market. Peepli Live, for instance, is releasing in Poland with limited prints. "Festivals award merit to our films and reaffirm the quality of our filmmaking; box office is only a by-product of the industry," says Pritish Nandy, chairman and founder, PNC.

Nandy adds that films "are either good or bad". He adds, "I have a problem with the faulty practice of the industry categorising films into small and big-budget. These (Ek Tho Chance and Saluun) are mid-sized films and, largely, such films have had an immaculate track record. The market for films keeps changing and continues to remain challenging."

What's more, actors, from both big screen and small, are seeing the potential of such films, which are often backed by solid scripts.

Actor Ram Kapoor says, "International film festivals provide wider audiences. They cannot assure commercial boost. Box office results are different from festival selections."

The small-screen star features in Udaan along with Ronit Roy. Both of them are best known for their roles in Balaji Telefilms' serials.

Roy adds, "I did Udaan because I wanted to be associated with the 'good' people behind the product."

According to Kapoor, "Udaan is a film that makes you think, though it doesn't have any 'masala'."

Saluun stars VJ Gaurav Kapur and popular small-screen actress Sakshi Tanwar. The film, shot over 18 days, is Nikhil Nagesh Bhat's first directorial venture.

A Maharashtrian, Bhat studied in Bihar and did a film studies course at Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication, Pune, after which he assisted ad film directors. He was the assistant director of Arindam Mitra's Shoonya.

"I'm happy that my first venture won the Silver Remi Comedy Award at the Houston WorldFest and the Golden Ace Award at the Las Vegas Film Festival."

A tribute to middle-class India, Saluun is based on a true incident that took place in Bhiwandi district of Maharashtra.

Ek Tho Chance, starring Purab Kohli, Amrita Arora, Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Vijay Raaz, Saurabh Shukla and Pawan Malhotra, is a simple narrative that looks at a slice of life in Mumbai.

Similarly, Rajat Kapoor's (inset) Fatso, shown at global film fests like Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, stars seasoned actors like Ranvir Shorey, Gul Panag and Purab Kohli.

It's Indian magic on the international red carpet, then.