Veteran theatre personality Anamika Haksar’s directorial debut film Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hoon (Taking The Horse To Eat Jalebi) will be released theatrically in major Indian cities on 10 June.
The film had its world premiere at the 20th MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in October 2018 and was screened in the New Frontier section at the Sundance Film Festival 2019.
Although the film was initially slated for release in 2020, it had to be postponed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The film has travelled to several international and Indian festivals in the interim and won multiple awards. It stars veteran theatre artistes Ravindra Sahu, Raghubir Yadav, Lokesh Jain and K Gopalan and follows four main characters: a pickpocket, a vendor of sweet and savoury snacks, a labourer activist, and a conductor of 'heritage walks’.
Patru, the pickpocket, decides to take people on alternative walks, showing them the underbelly of the city, but this causes trouble with local merchants and the police. He decides to conduct one last 'Dream Walk' when Lali, the labourer activist, joins the fray, giving a speech urging workers to unite, and lands them all in jail. The professional actors blend with 350 street people to create what seems like a surreal tale of truth.
Producer-director Anamika Haksar, who has waited a long time for the theatrical release of her passion project, said, “The film celebrates love and compassion of the people, their dreams and humour. I couldn't release it due to COVID and I am now delighted to collaborate with Platoon One distribution for the India release.
“The film is a result of seven years of documentation of the lives of the street people of old Delhi — beggars, pickpockets, loaders, small-scale factory workers, street singers, street vendors, etc," she continued. "The team comes from different backgrounds: theatre, painting, animation, cinema and special effects along with a very gifted cinematographer and videographer Saumyananda Sahi. The film moves from real landscapes to photographs to theatrical moments to painted landscapes to absolute cinema, an exciting journey for all of us.”
The film has been produced by Gutterati Productions and distributed by Platoon One Films. The trailer for the film was released along with news of the theatrical elease. Check out the trailer below and let us know if you are keen to see Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hoon.