'Mein, Mehmood' extends good run at festivals

With encouraging international attention gained from several awards, Red polka productions’ 'Mein, Mehmood' is continuing to make waves. It won the best short film award in the recent Kolkata international Festival.

'Mein, Mehmood', starring Ozair Abdul Aleem, traces the life of the character Mehmood,. He is a simple and middle-aged man from the Indian subcontinent who has left to the Middle East to earn a living.

Mehmood, who works as a tele-caller in a company reeling from the pandemic, struggles to meet monthly sales targets. His inability to speak English limits his ability to converse with potential clients. 'Mein, Mehmood' ('I'm, Mehmood') looks at the plight of hardworking immigrants across the world who aren't well versed in speaking in English.

“The reason we chose this topic was that this particular problem is often taken for granted despite it being a global issue,” says Prataya Saha, who wrote and directed the film. The film has a Bengaluru-based crew and it is yet another example of indie filmmakers crossing borders to shine on the international stage despite limited resources.

Talking more about the film's subject, Prataya says, “we are not against any language but it's a problem when you prioritise one language over the other. You are judged on the basis on if you can speak the language or not."

After dazzling at reputed film foreign festivals such as the DC South Asian Film Festival and River to River Foreign Film Festival, the film is set to stream on Disney+Hotstar in the middle of 2023 if all go as per plans, the makers tell DH.

Prataya has completed his first short film in Bengali. It is in the final stages of its post production. It stars many ace Bengaluru-based theatre actors. He has also written two feature films and is looking for potential collaborators.