Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple is garnering fame internationally.
The film, which was the first Indian film in 20 years to compete at the Venice Film Festival, has made history by winning the prestigious FIPRESCI award. It is a 2020 Marathi drama film written, directed and edited by Chaitanya Tamhane. It stars Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid, Sumitra Bhave, Deepika Bhide Bhagwat, and Kiran Yadnyopavit. Four-time Oscar-winner filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón serves as an executive producer.
The film, which looks at the world of classical musicians on the fringes of success, had its premiere at the Biennale last week, receiving glowing reviews from the critics.It is about Sharad Nerulkar (Aditya Modak), an Indian classical vocalist trying to achieve purity in his work as he has been raised on the stories of his father and guru about the masters of the past. The Marathi-language film is the first Indian movie in 20 years to be chosen for the main competition of a European film festival (Cannes, Venice, Berlin) after Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding in Venice in 2001.
The award, presented by the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Federation Internationale de la Presse CInematographique), aims to promote and develop film culture as well as safeguard professional interests.
“We are all quite thrilled and excited with this fantastic start to the journey of The Disciple”, Tamhane was quoted as saying by PTI.
He was also quoted saying “I want to thank the FIPRESCI and its jury members from the bottom of my heart for their continued support for our work. This is a very special honor for us given that the jury for this award comprises of film critics and journalists from around the world.”
The award comes as a huge sense of happiness as the last time India won this award was for the film Mathilukal, directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan in 1990. It took nearly two decades for our country to bag this award again.
Producer Vivek Gomber said “It’s an incredible honor to be the first Indian film after thirty years to win this prestigious award at Venice. FIPRESCI’s faith in our work has been a great source of encouragement over the years.”
The Disciple is Tamhane’s follow-up to his debut feature Court which was screened in the Orizzonti (Horizons) category at Venice in 2016.
The 77th Venice Film Festival, which concludes on Saturday with the announcement of main awards’ winners, is the first major international film event to take place physically since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
