Gitanjali Rao’s ‘Bombay Rose’ first Indian animation to open Venice Film Critics' Week

The screening in Venice on August 29 will mark the world premiere of the film.

July 20, 2019 01:00 am | Updated 01:02 am IST - Mumbai

A still from 'Bombay Rose'

A still from 'Bombay Rose'

Gitanjali Rao’s Bombay Rose will the first Indian animation film ever to open the Venice International Film Critics’ Week this year. A Cinestaan Film Company production, the hand-painted animation film is written, designed and directed by Rao and marks her feature film debut.

The screening in Venice on August 29 will mark the world premiere of the film.

“It has been our privilege to work with Gitanjali and PaperBoat Studios over the last two years to bring this piece of beautiful cinema to life,” said producer Rohit Khattar of Cinestaan in a press statement. He described the film as “a stunning love letter to Mumbai and its people”.

A still from 'Bombay Rose'

A still from 'Bombay Rose'

 

“A chronicle of the people who migrate from small towns, seeking minimal life in the maximum city,” the film is based on true events and “explores the ruthlessness of a society where the love and life that reign on the big screen can crush you in its mean streets.”

Painted painstakingly and passionately, frame by frame (something Rao is renowned for), it is about a red rose bringing together three tales of impossible loves — love between two flower sellers, love between two women, and the love of an entire city for its Bollywood stars. Set on the streets of Mumbai, it moves from real life to fantasy, accompanied by much-loved Bollywood songs.

A still from 'Bombay Rose'

A still from 'Bombay Rose'

 

The depiction of urban reality is said to have been done in a documentary style, whereas the intricate dream worlds are inspired from the rich and varied folk art styles of India.

Critically acclaimed last year for her debut as an actor in October, Rao is a self-taught animator and film maker who emerged into the international stage with her animated short, Printed Rainbow , which premiered in Cannes Critic’s week 2006 (and won the Kodak Discovery Award, Petite Rail D’Or and Prix Du Jeune). It went on to win 25 awards and was short listed for the Oscars in 2008. Her five independently produced animated shorts — Blue , Orange , Printed Rainbow , Chai and True Love Story — have been to over 150 International film festivals and received more than 30 awards.

Gitanjali Rao

Gitanjali Rao

Rao describes Bombay Rose as a story about simple people with their simple yet impossible dreams. “I have always wanted to paint stories about people who live and love in the streets of Bombay, never become success stories, yet their struggle for survival makes heroes out of them. This is the city with its cast of unsung heroes and heroines that I want to share with the world and why I started this labour of love six years ago,” she said in a statement.

The Venice International Film Critics’ Week is an independent, parallel section organized by the National Union of Italian Film Critics during the Venice International Film Festival. This year the festival is taking place from August 27 to September 7.

Cinestaan had executive produced Pawel Pawlikowski’s much acclaimed Cold War , that premiered at Cannes and won him the best director award and was also nominated for three Oscars. Bombay Rose is in co-production with Film d’Ici and was delivered at Mumbai-based PaperBoat Animation Studios. Working creatively alongside Rao was acclaimed sound designer P.M. Satheesh.

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