Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is all set to present Anuparna Roy's feature directorial debut Songs of Forgotten Trees at the prestigious 82nd Venice Film Festival. However, Anurag’s own feature film Bandar, starring Bobby Deol and Sanya Malhotra, will also premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival.
The filmmaker has recently reflected on why he decided to present the film at the prestigious event and said, “I have always believed in backing new talent, especially those who want to say something different, challenge the set norms by their ideas and beliefs.”
The filmmaker added, “Ranjan and I have been associated with multiple such films over the years, and it’s amazing to see such raw talent continuously coming up. Anuparna is definitely one such voice and we feel proud and happy to back her first feature.”
Meanwhile, director Anuparna Roy teased the plot of the upcoming feature and shared that she is drawn to stories that the mainstream "continues to ignore." She has notably self-funded Songs of Forgotten Trees while juggling three corporate jobs in Mumbai.
"Despite having one of the largest film industries in the world by volume, we rarely tell stories of the marginalized—of those excluded by class, caste, and gender. I want to change that. I want to speak of the miseries I’ve witnessed and lived through, not just as an Indian but as a global citizen.”
She elaborated, “I believe that telling these stories might give voice to the unheard, offer solace to some, and perhaps even inspire others. My search for this story began with the search for my childhood friend, Jhuma Nath, whose child marriage was carried out under a man-made social order and a failed government scheme. This film carries her memories.”
Songs of Forgotten Trees is notably the only Indian film to be selected in the esteemed Orizzonti section, a launchpad for innovative storytelling. The category has previously honoured films like Chaitanya Tamhane's Court and Karan Tejpal's Stolen, which recently dropped on Prime Video.
The feature film stars Naaz Shaikh and Sumi Baghel in the lead roles and follows the story of two women and how their lives get intertwined in Mumbai. The feature is produced by Bibhanshu Rai, Romil Modi and Ranjan Singh. Navin Shetty and Anuparna Roy have co-produced the film.
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According to the official synopsis, Songs of Forgotten Trees follows the story of Thooya, a migrant and aspiring actress, who survives the city by leveraging beauty and wit, occasionally trading intimacy for opportunity. When she sublets her sugar daddy’s upscale apartment to Swetha, a fellow migrant working a corporate job, the two women, seemingly from different worlds, begin to share more than just a space.
Amid the relentless pulse of Mumbai, they discover a silent empathy. But as personal histories, desires, and wounds resurface, their delicate connection is tested. What follows is not a rupture, but a strange and tender unfolding—of selfhood, of survival, of unexpected kinship.
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