Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s latest thriller ‘Dobaaraa’, with award-winning actress Taapsee Pannu in the lead, has been confirmed as the opening night world premiere at the 2022 London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) on June 23.
Besides, female filmmakers will be at the forefront of this year’s edition of LIFF, including the European premiere of Aparna Sen directed ‘The Rapist’, starring Konkana Sen Sharma and Arjun Rampal.
Festival Director Cary Rajinder Sawhney MBE said: “We have UK premiered a number of Anurag’s films over the last 12 years – including ‘That Girl In Yellow Boots’ and ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’.
“Anurag delivers yet another fresh directorial approach and a compelling twisted story. Actor Taapsee Pannu steals the show as a young woman trapped between two lives in different decades.
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"We are also delighted at the exceptionally strong cavalcade of exciting new premieres at this year’s festival in 10 different languages and some very rare in person talks headlined by India’s greatest woman filmmaker Aparna Sen.”
This year’s LIFF, backed by Blue Orchid Hotels, Integrity International, the British Film Institute (BFI), Bagri Foundation and Arts Council of England, spans over a fortnight starting next month to screen a variety of films at cinemas across London as well as regionally in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds.
“‘Dobaaraa’ being premiered at the London Film Festival right ahead of its theatrical release is a testament of its new-age, cutting edge narrative being wholly loved and applauded all over the world,” said Ektaa R. Kapoor, the producer behind the opening night film.
“‘Dobaaraa’ is our first film under Cult Movies, our new film-division which is set to tell compelling, edgy and genre-bending stories. I feel ecstatic for ‘Dobaaraa’ and its presence amidst various international celebrated films from around the globe and I can’t wait to showcase the film to Indian audiences on July 1, 2022,” she said.
Among other UK premieres at this year’s film festival celebrating Indian and South Asian cinema in Britain include Pan Nalin’s homage to celluloid ‘Chello Show’ and Anik Dutta’s ‘Aparajito’ – a tribute to legendary director Satyajit Ray’s journey of making his first film, the cult classic ‘Pather Panchali’.
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An intimate look at modern day Calcutta, ‘Once Upon a Time in Calcutta’ by Aditya Vikram Sengupta also features in the festival line-up. Set against a score by Oscar-winning A.R. Rahman, who is also Executive Producer, ‘No Land’s Man’ stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a man dealing with the complexities of identity.
Under the festival’s ‘Save the Planet’ strand, ecological and climate themes are explored in ‘The Road to Kuthriyar’, ‘No Ground Beneath My Feet’ and ‘Hatibondhu’. Canadian Indian documentary ‘Superfan: The Nav Bhatia Story’, set around the Toronto Raptors basketball team’s greatest fan, closes the festival.
Following the London leg, which concludes on July 3, the film festival will conclude in Birmingham on July 5 and Manchester on July 6. BFI Player will host a selection of short films.
