Chaitanya Tamhane's second feature film, The Disciple (2020), has won the Amplify Voice award at the 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The film shared the award with Ivorian director Phillipe Lacote's Night Of The Kings. The award carries a cash prize of US $10,000.
Chinese director Chloe Zhao's Nomadland, the winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, took TIFF's coveted People's Choice award.
The festival was wrapped up on Saturday with the closing night presentation of Mira Nair's BBC Studios web-series A Suitable Boy (2020) starring Ishan Khatter and Tabu.
Tamhane's film has been on an award-winning spree since its premiere at the 77th Venice Film Festival. Last week, The Disciple won the Best Screenplay and FIPRESCI awards at Venice.
The Amplify Voices award jury described The Disciple as "masterful in its restraint" and said the film about a struggling classical Indian musician "explores the tension between traditional discipline and the contemporary impulse to be instantly validated".
Thanking the jury in his virtual award acceptance speech, Tamhane said, "We just found out about the award and are super excited. We are in lockdown in Mumbai and it’s news like this that brightens our day and gives us hope."
“We’re in lockdown in Mumbai, and it’s news like this that brightens our day and gives us hope.” —Chaitanya Tamhane #TIFF20 pic.twitter.com/4p9FTrvrUX
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 20, 2020
The Disciple is the story of a man named Sharad Nerulkar (Aditya Modak), an Indian classical vocalist who is trying to achieve purity in his work as he has been raised on stories narrated by his father and guru about the great masters of the past.
The Disciple has been produced by Vivek Gomber, who also produced Tamhane's debut film and festival darling Court (2015). Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón joined the team of The Disciple as executive producer.
Correction: An earlier version of this report identified Anand Modak as the leading man of The Disciple. It is Aditya Modak.