Konkona Sen Sharma, Arjun Rampal and Tanmay Dhanania starrer film, The Rapist is set to have its world premiere at the 26th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). Directed by the National Award-winning director Aparna Sen the film is produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Quest Films Pvt. Ltd.
The film is part of the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ section of the festival and is nominated for the prestigious Kim Jiseok Award.
“The Rapist” follows the journey of three protagonists and how their lives get entwined because of one horrific incident. According to the makers, the film is made with an aim of looking beyond the obvious crime, to “explore not only how it affects the survivors and perpetrators of the crime, but also delves into how one’s idealistic views are drastically altered when the truth hits uncomfortably close to home.”
Apart from trying to explore the inequalities in the social system responsible for giving rise to criminals, what drew Sen to the story was the “psychology of the three protagonists.” “Stripping off the layers and the carefully built-up facades to get at the person underneath was a fascinating process. Fascinating too was getting the two Indias to come face to face – the India that lives in urban slums with its age-old beliefs, and educated urbane India with its ‘progressive’ value systems,” the director was quoted saying.
Talking about the film being nominated for the Kim Jiseok Award Sameer Nair, CEO of Applause Entertainment said, “The enthusiasm has only doubled up with a nomination for the Kim Jiseok Award, and a world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the most celebrated film festival in all of Asia. We’re happy to have partnered with Quest Films and are confident that Aparna’s unique brand of storytelling, especially of complex themes plaguing our society, will resonate with the world audience at large.”
Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki is also nominated for the Kim Jiseok Award for his latest film, “No Land’s Man” which stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The drama, which deals with discrimination and hate crimes based on race, religion, and nationality, has music by AR Rahman. BIFF is scheduled to take place from October 6 to 15 this year.
