'Sikandar', 'Samaantar' nominated for Bollywood & Beyond fest

While 'Sikandar' has been selected as a part of the official competition and would compete for the 'German Star of India' award, Marathi film 'Samaantar' is competing in the Audience Award category at the festival.

Mahesh Ramanathan, Chief Operating officer of BIG Pictures which has produced both the films, said showcasing of the films in the festival will help these movies to expand their distribution footprint internationally.

'Sikandar', a suspense-thriller starring Parzaan Dastur and Ayesha Kapur along with R Madhavan, Sanjay Suri and Arunoday Singh, has been written and directed by Piyush Jha.
It was also recently screened at the International Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA).

'Samaantar' is a heart-wrenching drama starring Amol Palekar and Sharmila Tagore. The film is written by Sandhya Gokhale and directed by Palekar himself.

The 'Bollywood & Beyond Film Festival', which started in the year 2004, is the only festival in all of Germany which is entirely dedicated to Indian films.
Last year the festival had approximately 13,000 visitors.