Srinagar, May 27: A pheran moment at Cannes red carpet!
Thanks to J&K-born internationally acclaimed filmmaker Rahhat Shah Kazmi who debuted at the Cannes Film Festival wearing Kashmiri pheran.
The launch of his upcoming film `Love In Vietnam’ also garnered significant attention from the audience and press.
Rahhat Shah Kazmi, known for his thought-provoking cinema, has been instrumental in introducing several actors to the Cannes platform. This time, he walked the red carpet for his film `Love In Vietnam’, which features Shantanu Maheshwari, Avneet Kaur, and Vietnamese superstar Kha Ngan in lead roles.
The film, backed by veteran filmmaker Omung Kumar, Captain Rahul Bali, and Abhishek Ankur, is a co-production between India and Vietnam. It is based on the best-selling Turkish novel `Madonna in a Fur Coat’. Rahhat attributed the enthusiastic response to the film’s launch to its unique love story and international appeal.
Rahhat expressed pride in presenting Kashmir’s culture and attire on the global stage. He promised to bring more traditional styles to red carpets at Cannes and other festivals in the future.
The launch event at the Bharat Pavilion and Cannes Film Festival was widely covered by news portals, with even the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting tweeting about it.
Hailing from Surankote, Kazmi comes from a family of noted Sufi poet Vilayat Ali Shah Bukhari who had a tremendous influence in the area. For Kazmi, Bukhari was the first inspiration and he started writing prose and poetry when he was in eighth standard.
Films were his first love and such was his passion that he shot a movie on a small camera and screened it in the video halls of the area to test his skills. When he was in class 12th, he left for Mumbai to try his luck but to no avail. Unwilling to give up, he came back and started afresh with Doordarshan.
Dreams however came crashing down when the Doordarshan Metro channel was converted into a news channel. Rahat had invested more than Rs 14 lakh to produce a drama series. Later he shifted to Delhi to make a series on Bollywood personalities for ETV. He got in touch with several luminaries who appreciated his work.
Rahat became the first J&K-born filmmaker whose two award-winning movies made a digital debut.
`Lihaaf’, a joint venture of Surankote-born filmmaker Rahat Kazmi and Oscar-winning French producer Marc Bachet of `No Man’s Land’ fame, was premiered on Voot Select Film Fest. `Lihaf’ is a story based on famous Urdu writer and novelist Ismat Chugtai.
`Lines’, which encapsulates the story of divided families living across the Line of Control, is a joint venture of Rahat Kazmi and famous Kashmiri television star Hina Khan. The movie also premiered at the Voot Select Film Festival.
