Its double whammy for Pritish Nandy Communications! The 43rd WorldFest Houston International Film Festival will feature PNC’s Ek Tho Chance, directed by legendary film maker Saeed Akhtar Mirza, and PNC’s Salun, directed by first time director Nikhil Bhat. The ten day festival starts on April 9th 2010.
Both the PNC films have been nominated for the prestigious REMI awards in the feature film category at this year’s festival. “PNC’s Saluun definitely represents the fresh breed of Indian filmmakers and it’s a great pleasure for us to screen the movie at the Festival,” says J. Hunter Todd, Chairman & Founding Director, WorldFest Houston International Film Festival. He further added, “Saluun is funny, clever, heart warming and it introduces a new director, Nikhil Bhat who brings fresh insight into where popular Bollywood cinema can go. We are also very excited about Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s Ek Tho Chance, which has been already acclaimed at various international platforms.” The directors and their films will be introduced in the theatre right before the screening and after that they will be conducting an interactive session with media.
The WorldFest REMI Award is named after the great Western Artist Frederick Remington, who captured the spirit of Texas and The American West with his remarkable paintings and sculptures. Pritish Nandy, Chairman PNC, says, “Ek Tho Chance marks the return of the master, Saeed Akhtar Mirza (Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hain, Salim Lande Pe Mat Ro, Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho, Nukkad). Ek Tho Chance is a delightful new take on Mumbai, the City of Dreams. Saluun is based on a true incident and it brings the magic of India to our screens. The film is about middle class, middle India that you rarely see in today’s Bollywood movies. It’s a narrative of hope and magic. It’s obvious that international audience will fall in love with the simple but charming narrative.”
Director Nikhil Bhat says, “I realized that storytelling is not one person’s medium. Here, every person’s opinions and thoughts matter. I feel, the entire team, everybody, just fell in place and Saluun happened. It’s an honor for me to showcase my debut film on such an important international platform.”
Director Saeed Akhtar Mirza will be attending the festival along with debutant director Nikhil Bhat. Mirza says, “Ek Tho Chance is a simple narrative but speaks volumes on human nature. The most difficult part of filmmaking is to depict a simple story in an extraordinary way. I am still learning, the art of it.” Mirza is one of Indian cinema’s most acclaimed legends. His last festival outing before Ek Tho Chance was at the Directors Fortnight in Cannes over a decade back for his film Naseem in n1996. Ek Tho Chance tells the tale of Mumbai city and the millions who get off the train at Victoria Terminus every second of the day hoping to latch on to the magic of Mumbai. The film has already been invited to some of the top international festivals and has broken fresh ground for new Indian cinema.
