WORLD PREMIERE: Anwar (2006); India

Director:
MANISH JHA

Producer:
RAJESH SINGH

Music By:
MITHOON
PANKAJ AWASTHI

Cast:
SIDDHARTH KOIRALA
NAUHEED CYRUSI
MANISHA KOIRALA
VIJAY RAAZ
RAJPAL YADAV
HITEN TEJWANI
YASHPAL SHARMA
SUDHIR PANDEY
PANKAJ JHA
SANJAY MISHRA

Synopsis:
A story of a young man, an artist, who leaves his home and everything he knows in order to escape a world he no longer recognizes. All he ever wanted was to be loved. Instead, his mentor abandons him and his best friend and his one true love betray him. Devastated, emotionally exhausted, he takes refuge in an old building, only to wake up the next morning to find his world turned upside down. Mistaken for a terrorist, Anwar finds himself in the midst of unusual set of circumstances that resonate deeply with the modern "Indian condition" and indeed with the "human condition" in this present day global village.

Surrounded on all sides by a host of characters that try and engineer the situation to their profit, Anwar becomes the central character upon which the others base their hopes and their deepest desires. A rabble-rousing Minister, pitching for the popular vote; two journalists, one a nationally renowned TV reporter and the other a small town scribe, looking to resurrect their careers and, as a consequence their lives; a priest whose only wants to leave, but must first resolve the situation... in any way he can. Through them and through the other stories weaving in and out of the film, we discover a grand love story, plastered against the canvas of India.

About the Director:
MANISH JHA - By the age of 24, Manish Jha had already won two of the most prestigious international awards in world cinema. His first film, the critically acclaimed short "A Very Very Silent Film (2002)" won the 'Jury Prize for Best Short Film' at the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL in 2002. Even more impressively, Abbas Kiarostami called him the most promising director at the festival.

His second film, "Matrubhoomi:A Nation Without Women (2003)" won the FIPRESCI Award from the 'Critic's Jury' at the VENICE FILM FESTIVAL in 2003, stirring up reams of controversy with its dark, yet surprisingly funny look at the issue of female infanticide.

With his two films having dealt exclusively with women's issues, Manish turned his eyes on homeward. The result, "Anwar (inspired by a short story "Falgun Ki Ek Upkatha" by Priamvad)." A mixture of a series of love stories, political satire, serious social drama and an epic tragedy-searingly personal and overwhelming, uniquely Indian; it may yet prove to be the coronation of Manish Jha as the new enfant terrible of Indian Cinema - a position that he is more than qualified to command.