Slam (2019) 116′ Narrative feature film, English
with Adam Bakri, Rachael Blake, Rebecca Breeds, Darina Al Joundi
“SLAM is very impressive. It tells an important story in a convincing and enthralling way. I’m giving it four stars.”
– David Stratton (The Australian)
My third feature film, an Australian-French coproduction, premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and has since screened at the Sydney and Melbourne FF among others. The film had its Australian premiere at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival in the Special Presentations at the State Theatre. and then screened at Melbourne, IFF, Brisbane IFF, Cinefest Oz The film was released in selected cinemas in Australia & France.
Sunrise (2014) 87′ Narrative feature film, Marathi
with Adil Hussain, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Gulnaaz Ansari, Esha Amlani
“A surreal and haunting procedural.”
– Elizabeth Kerr (The Hollywood Reporter)
My second feature film premiered at the Busan Int. Film Festival and since screened at Tribeca, Munich, BFI London, Sitges, Fantasia etc. It won the Best Film and the Best Cinematography Awards at the 2015 Durban Film Festival, Black Tulip for Best Film at the Imagine Film festival and an Honorable Jury Mention at the Munich Film festival. It was nominated at the Best Cinematography at Asia-Pacific Screen Academy Awards. It received excellent reviews from critics worldwide. The film was released in theatres in Germany, France and the US and was acquired by Netflix.
Let the Wind Blow (2004) 93′ Narrative feature film, Hindi
with Aniket Vishwasrao, Nishikant Kamat, Rajshri Thakur
My first feature film, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. It was screened at the MoMA, SFMoMA and at the Guggenheim, Berlin and toured the US as part of the ‘Global Lens 2008‘ of the Global Film Initiative (SF).
2004 Berlin International Film Festival
2004 Hong Kong International Film Festival – Firebird Award (Special Mention)
2004 Commonwealth Film Festival BBC Audience Prize
2004 Durban International Film Festival – Best Film
2004 3rd Eye Asian Film Festival
2004 Tokyo FILMeX Festival
2004 Nantes Festival des 3 Continents Film Festival
2004 River to River Indian Film Festival
2008 International Film Festival Rotterdam
2008 Global Film Initiative – Global Lens 2008
The Way of Beauty – 180′ (2006) English
This Universal Music DVD features a 60-minute documentary (Shakti Timeless) on the band starting from the early seventies.
Shakti Timeless 60′ – documentary – English
Shakti Timeless tells the engaging story of Indo-western music group Shakti, who, in the mid-seventies, pioneered an innovative and highly influential East-meets-West musical fusion. The group consisted of legendary jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, tabla master Zakir Hussain, violinist L. Shankar and ghatan player T.H. ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram. The group was reformed in 1997 under the name ‘Remember Shakti’ with new talents V. Selvaganesh who replaced his father Vikku and the young prodigy ‘Mandolin’ U. Shrinivas who replaced Shankar.
Through interviews with the original founding members, the film reveals the quest for transcendent music that led to the group’s formation. The interviews are interwoven with rare and exquisite music footage from the seventies to the present day.
The film was screened at the Durban International Film Festival 2007 from 20 June to 1 July 2007.
Trajet Discontinu 26′ (1996) French
Jury Award-Festival Premier Plans d’Angers 97’ / Special Jury Prize Arte Des Parfums CERRUTTI 1881
Aslam, a Kashmiri migrant, finds himself in the countryside of the South of France. He has been ditched there by illegal migration crossers. He is saved by an old lady who hides him in her house. though they do not speak the same language, a friendship develops between the two. But the French police are searching for Aslam.
Le Cochon 12′ (1995) French
Selected at the Locarno IFF, Clermont-Ferrand FF, Aix-en-Provence FF, Potsdam-Babelsburg FF
Philippe is broke and owes money to two toughs, and all the neighbour’s little boy wants is to be his friend.
La Partition 6′ (1997) No Dialogues
Selected at the Festival de Film de Paris 1998
A composer in Paris tries to write a new partition for an upcoming recital, but he is easily distracted by the urban noise.