JOIN USAnamika Haksar’s debut gem showing for 3 days
‘Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hoon’ (Taking the horse to eat jalebis), Anamika Haksar’s debut film with a quirky title has received rave reviews for its technical and creative brilliance.
A renowned theatre director from Mumbai, Anamika is delighted with the response to her attempt at intertwining reality and dreams against the backdrop of the bustling streets and slums of Old Delhi. Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah lauded the sound, the photography, the editing, and the whole concept behind the Hindi film at its premiere recently. It is a wonderfully executed love letter to the old city, he praised, according to reports.
“I met many producers but with no luck,” she talks of the challenges. Left with no choice, she decided to self-fund the project. The onerous task involved selling her home in Delhi, borrowing money from friends and relatives, and starting a crowdfunding campaign online. Anamika crossed the first hurdle by finishing the film with a budget of Rs 2.5 crore.
Finding distributors for a small-scale film with no big names, albeit starring seasoned theatre actors Raghuvir Yadav, Ravindra Sahu, and Lokesh, wasn’t easy. It lay on the shelf for more than three years before Platoon Distribution came to the rescue and the screenings were held in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Pune, and Jaipur.
The film had done well in the festival circuit. “It is not particular to Delhi. It’s about the people on the streets. We have documented their dreams,” Anamika decodes the “universal” appeal of the film. In terms of story, it depicts the lives of beggars, pickpockets, loaders, street singers, small-scale manufacturing employees and street merchants of Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi).
In Bengaluru, ‘Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hoon’ will be screened at PVR: Vega City, Bannerghatta Road, on June 17, 18, and 19. Incidentally, it was adjudged the best popular film at the Bengaluru International Film Festival 2019.