The curious case of Indian indies

Anand Gandhi's 'Ship of Theseus' has won the best film award at the 12th Transylvania International Film Festival That ended on Saturday. Although, independent films from India are garnering much Favourable response in the festival circuit, not all are as fortunate as Gandhi's film, que have found a presenter in Kiran Rao.

Patang

Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, this film based in the city of Ahmedabad During The annual kite-flying festival, received tremendous critical acclaim abroad and toured festivals in Israel, Italy, Canada and Sweden other than the prestigious Tribeca and Berlin film festivals. Legendary critic Roger Ebert called the film, "hypnotically beautiful" while terming Director Prashant Bhargava "a masterful filmmaker." Ebert went on to include the film in his own festival, Ebertfest. Despite The accolades, there is no word on the film's Indian release

Lovely Miss

AshimAhluwalia's film Which was INITIALLY planned as a documentary on the C-grade cinema of Mumbai, but later converted into a fiction owe owing to people's refusal to speak on camera, was selected in the 'Un Certain Regard' section of the Cannes film festival last year . However, the film features Nawazu-ddinSiddiqui Which in a pivotal role is yet to find a distributor in India. "We have just got clearance from the censor board. Approached We have a few studios, hopefully the film will release in the Latter half of this year," said a source close to the film.

Peddlers

Vasan Bala's film on four impoverished 20 year olds who find Themselves entrapped in the seedy world of narcotics, was a part of the International Critics Week in 2012, a parallel section at the Cannes film festival. The film was acquired by Eros International, but seeing it as a 'not-so-lucrative' proposition, the studio did not release the film. Later, the makers were in talks with independent hand PVR's Director's Rare, but nothing came out of it. The reason? Says the director, "It's a difficult film to market. We want to reach the right audience. We can not spend much on publicity." The makers have plans to release the film online.

Mumbai Cha Raja

Manjeet Singh's debut feature traces a chaotic time in the life of its protagonist Rahul in the backdrop of the annual Ganpati festival. The film made it to the official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival, but found no takers in Mumbai. In the words of TIFF's artistic director Cameron Bailey, "Manjeet Singh captures the reality, the drama, the complexity and the beauty of life in a Mumbai slum." When Mirror spoke to the manager, I Seemed To Have lost hope of an India release.

Shahid

Hansal Mehta's film based on the life of slain human rights activist and lawyer, Shahid Azmi had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, and later won the Silver Gateway Award at the Mumbai Film Festival last year. Only now, the film has been acquired by a major studio, and if things turn out well, it will be Commercially released. Mehta says, "I was enjoying the festival run. In two weeks' time, the studio will make an announcement on Shahid's Indian release. I hope the average Remains supportive."

Which Films have secured a release

BA Pass

Ajay Bahl's human drama on sexual relationship Between a college-going boy and a married woman, played by Shilpa Shukla-will be distributed by Bharat Shah's banner. The film releases on June 21.

Ship of Theseus

Director Anand Gandhi's exploratory journey Which tries to deconstruct the notion of identity, justice and the meaning of life through the lens of a blind photographer has been acquired by UTV, thanks to the Efforts of Kiran Rao. The film releases on July 19.

Happy not to play a protagonist in 'Ghanchakkar': Vidya Balan

Having shown please herself for portraying strong female characters, independent films, actress Vidya Balan had no qualms about playing second fiddle to Emraan Hashmi in her upcoming film 'Ghanchakkar'.

The 35-year-old actress is often credited for breaking the stereotypes of a heroine of Hindi cinema with his powerful performance in films like 'Paa', 'Ishqiya', 'No One Killed Jessica', 'The Dirty Picture "and" Kahaani '.

But Vidya is happy to leave his comedy mode power-woman and her debut as over-the-top, champagne housewife in Rajkumar Gupta directed film.

"I'm glad I'm not playing the protagonist in 'Ghanchakkar.'ve Done many times before. This film is Emraan. He is the main head here. And I'm very happy and comfortable with it. Gives me more opportunities to perform. I can be free and not feel any pressure on him, "Vidya said in a telephone interview from Mumbai.

The national award winning actress says although the film does not center around his character Neetu, still has much to offer women.

"The only take away from this movie for women is that it is about, a housewife, who is very happy with herself. She does not care about their weight, their habits, their looks. According to her is the best and there is a certain degree of confidence in it, "said Vidya, who was part of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival recently.

'Ghanchakkar' a comedy thriller, was produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur Vidya husband. The movie hit theaters on June 28.

This is the second film with Gupta Vidya. The two previously worked together on commercially successful and critically 'No One Killed Jessica', which is based on the controversial murder of Jessica Lal.

INITIALLY Vidya says he was afraid to take on the role of a Punjabi housewife in the film and needed much persuasion.

"When I narrated this character Raj Neetu, a strong and vibrant, vivacious Punjabi housewife was not sure. I mean I just exit 'Dirty Picture'. But when I read the script I could not put it Down. Loudness There are but a different type of film.

"Raj told me that if I was not doing the film, I would not do the film at all. But in the end I'm glad I took it up. Trust Raj implicitly after working with him in 'No One Killed Jessica'" Vidya said.

Although I was nervous when entering uncharted territory with 'Ghanchakkar', the actress is happy to choose this film as his debut in the comedy genre.

"I think if I have to dabble in comedy, could not have better film than this. Could let my hair. Sorry madness Only when I eat out I am with people closer and making this film was that experience for me."

Vidya says it was a little hard for her to get into character in terms of appearance, as it was different from those who never played on the screen.

"My clothes in the movie were designed by Subarna Ray Chaudhuri, I've worked in 'Paineeta' and she said, 'I can not do this Vidya strange thing to you." But Raj told me to forget myself completely and Neetu-just think about how I would talk and dress. And we actually had a lot of fun. "

When asked how he prepared for his character, Vidya said, "all I had to work on my accent was Punjabi but not too much, also because my character lives in Mumbai."