Hindi
Lives of rat catchers to hit the screens on 20 April
MUMBAI: Documentary maker Miriam Chandy Menacherry‘s The Rat Race will commercially release on 20 April.
The documentary unravels the lives of rat catchers who work every night while the rest of the city sleeps.
The film is about the men hired by the Bombay Municipal Corporation who set out with torches and sticks to bring back the carcasses of 30 rats that are counted every morning to earn their daily wages.
" I am terrified of rats, so that is certainly not a reason why I spent two years filming them….but in this film I saw the chance to use the rat as a vehicle to explore a city and the never say die spirit of its people. To me, this is a film that truly represents Mumbai and a population who keep alive their dreams even as they struggle with their daily reality," observed Menacherry, when asked as to why she ventured into making the film.
The story that captivated an international jury in Cannes in 2010 then had three sold out shows in Amsterdam where it premiered at IDFA, one of the biggest documentary festivals.
The film has been made on a budget of Rs 3 million. Talking of the promotion of the film, Menacherry said: “We, of course, have little or no promotional budget but I am relying on word of mouth to work things in favour of the film. After all this is a local story that is all too real, it has compelling characters and a wicked dark humour. If it could have international audiences giving it a standing ovation, I am sure Indian audiences will catch more of the nuances. The theatres are giving us a week’s release in prime time slot, which means that they see a reason to take the risk.”
The film is supported by well known actor and comedian Jaaved Jaaferi, who recently launched the Indian Documentary Foundation (IDF), an organisation that aims to take the documentary genre to mainstream audiences.
The documentary will be released at PVR and Big Cinemas in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
Hindi
Rashmika Mandanna, Shanaya Kapoor and Naila Grrewal climb IMDb’s Indian celebrity rankings
Upcoming films and returning shows are driving fan interest across Bollywood and streaming
MUMBAI: Bollywood’s popularity contest has a new weekly scorecard, and the numbers are telling. IMDb’s Popular Indian Celebrities list for this week places Shanaya Kapoor at number six, buoyed by buzz around her film Tu Yaa Main. Naila Grrewal slots in at seven on the back of the returning comedy series Maamla Legal Hai, while Rashmika Mandanna climbs to eighth, riding mounting anticipation for Cocktail 2.
The list, available exclusively on the IMDb app for Android and iOS, tracks trending Indian entertainers and filmmakers each week, drawing on data from more than 200m monthly visits to the platform worldwide.
Further down the rankings, Raaka is keeping two of its biggest names in the spotlight. Deepika Padukone holds 11th position, with Allu Arjun close behind at 13th, as the film continues to find traction with audiences.
The list offers fans a weekly pulse on who is breaking through, who is holding steady, and who is fading. It is a barometer as unsparing as the box office itself.
