Marathi film Zollywood bags special jury award at Toulouse Indian festival in France

First-time director Trushant Ingle's Zollywood has bagged the Special Jury award at France's Toulouse Indian festival.

The film sheds light on a little-known theatre tradition called zhaadi-patti from the Vidarbha region in eastern Maharashtra.

Ingle, who was naturally thrilled with the news, said, "Zollywood is my first film, so getting an award for your first film is always a special feeling and I'm really happy!

"The topic of zhaadi-patti is close to my heart and it's a very satisfying feeling that I could do justice to this subject through my film," he said, adding that he hopes to release the film when cinema halls reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic is controlled.

The Festival des Cinémas Indiens de Toulouse or Toulouse Indian Film Festival is held annually in the city in southern France since 2013. As the name indicates, the festival is dedicated to introducing the French public to Indian cinema.

Zollywood has been produced by Priyanka Agerwal, Anshulika Dubey and Shashwat Singh under their banner Wishberry Films and is presented by Newton (2017) director Amit Masurkar.