Actor-animator Gitanjali Rao’s animated feature, Bombay Rose, will be the opening film of the Critics Week at the Venice International Film Festival on 29 August. Bombay Rose is the first Indian animation film ever to have been selected to open Venice Critic’s Week.
The Venice International Film Festival 2019’s screening will also mark the animation film’s world premiere.
The film marks Gitanjali’s first feature as a director. She was last seen as an actor in Shoojit Sircar’s October .
Gitanjali’s five animated short films, Blue, Orange, Printed Rainbow, Chai and True Love Story have been to over 150 film festivals over the years, and have also received around 30 awards.
“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 6 years ago.”Gitanjali Rao
Speaking about making Bombay Rose, Gitanjali says, “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 6 years ago. My hand painted short films have travelled the globe and I have found connections to my films in the most unusual places.”
“From Cannes to Kanpur. These fans of my stories give me confidence that my first feature film, Bombay Rose, about simple people with their simple yet impossible dreams can connect with people around the world,” she added.
Bombay Rose is the story of a flower seller who has to make the choice between protecting her family or allowing herself to fall in love. The story is set on the streets of Mumbai and moves from real life to fantasy.
Bombay Rose is the story of a flower seller who has to make the choice between protecting her family or allowing herself to fall in love. The story is set on the streets of Mumbai and moves from real life to fantasy, accompanied by Bollywood songs from the cinema halls. Painted frame by frame, Bombay Rose is a chronicle of the people who migrate from small towns, seeking minimal life in the maximum city.
Produced by Anand Mahindra and Rohit Khattar of Cinestaan Film Company, Bombay Rose has been written, designed and directed by Gitanjali Rao. The film has been co-produced by Film d’Ici.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)