India’s celluloid connect to Afghanistan is not just limited to the 1992 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Khuda Gawah’ or John Abraham’s 2006 film ‘Kabul Express’. In a unique venture, an Indian team comprising film makers and technicians collaborated with Afghani directors to make a film in Dari language -- ‘A man’s desire for a fifth wife’. Dari is one of Afghanistan’s two official languages.
The film has become the first Indo-Afghan joint venture among the private directors and producers after the last joint effort in 1947.
Entirely shot in Afghanistan with local actors, many of whom had fled the country following threats from the Taliban, the film was cleared by the Censor Board (CBFC) last week.
Apart from the Indian technical team, famous musician Ravindra Jain, who had also scored music for popular TV serial ‘Ramayan’, provided the background score for the Afghani film.
The film is a love story where a man goes looking for his fifth wife, though he is allowed to have only four. The film portrays the centuries-old tradition of Northern Afghanistan and the violence against the women in present-day Afghan society.
The brilliantly shot 90 minute-long film, which features Shakhnaza Jabirwa, Waisuddin Samil, Takmina Rajabova, Emam Berdihof, Saher Parniyan, Maymoona Ghazai, Sahar Parniyan and Tahnima Jann, is likely to find resonance among the Indian audiences too.
It was made at a cost of $1.5 -2 million, which included heavy bills for ensuring the security of the actors and the crew. Ahead of the its formal release in India, the film will have its premiere here on August 29.
As India is closely associated with the Afghan government on various fronts, the audience for the premiere would include Union External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and a host of Afghan Ministers.
The film’s India connection started when an Afghanistan-based production company ‘Altin Films’ headed by director Mohammed Sediq Abedi started looking for technical help to shoot the film. They were on the lookout for someone to lend them cameras and other equipment to shoot the film.
“After failing to elicit any help from countries like Russia and Iran as no one was willing to lend them expensive cameras and other equipment for a war-ravaged country, they came into contact with us through our Taziki friends,” Sanjay Bhan, who worked as production designer for the film, told Express.
Bhan’s wife Neelofar Shama is the associate director of the film. Both of them run the production company which makes films and serials.
The film has become the first Indo-Afghan joint venture among the private directors and producers after the last joint effort in 1947.
Entirely shot in Afghanistan with local actors, many of whom had fled the country following threats from the Taliban, the film was cleared by the Censor Board (CBFC) last week.
Apart from the Indian technical team, famous musician Ravindra Jain, who had also scored music for popular TV serial ‘Ramayan’, provided the background score for the Afghani film.
The film is a love story where a man goes looking for his fifth wife, though he is allowed to have only four. The film portrays the centuries-old tradition of Northern Afghanistan and the violence against the women in present-day Afghan society.
The brilliantly shot 90 minute-long film, which features Shakhnaza Jabirwa, Waisuddin Samil, Takmina Rajabova, Emam Berdihof, Saher Parniyan, Maymoona Ghazai, Sahar Parniyan and Tahnima Jann, is likely to find resonance among the Indian audiences too.
It was made at a cost of $1.5 -2 million, which included heavy bills for ensuring the security of the actors and the crew. Ahead of the its formal release in India, the film will have its premiere here on August 29.
As India is closely associated with the Afghan government on various fronts, the audience for the premiere would include Union External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and a host of Afghan Ministers.
The film’s India connection started when an Afghanistan-based production company ‘Altin Films’ headed by director Mohammed Sediq Abedi started looking for technical help to shoot the film. They were on the lookout for someone to lend them cameras and other equipment to shoot the film.
“After failing to elicit any help from countries like Russia and Iran as no one was willing to lend them expensive cameras and other equipment for a war-ravaged country, they came into contact with us through our Taziki friends,” Sanjay Bhan, who worked as production designer for the film, told Express.
Bhan’s wife Neelofar Shama is the associate director of the film. Both of them run the production company which makes films and serials.
Source : Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), International Service
