‘Chand Tara’ premier in Toronto Film Festival

Metro India News | HYDERABAD

Indian theatre scion Padmasri Mohammad Ali Baig’s debut film ‘Chand Tara’ which brings on screen the legend of south Indian singer Taramati and Qutub Shahi ruler of the Deccan, Sultan Abdullah Qutub Shah will have its world premiere at a special screening at the inaugural edition of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) by NFDC. ‘The Market’ section on September 16th at the prestigious TIFF Light Box venue will hold this special screening.

The film’s trailer created waves amongst international filmmakers and global audiences when it was launched at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year.Termed “poetic and lyrical” by the international media, Mohammad Ali Baig’s film takes forward his pioneering work on stage with heritage theatre; his epic, larger-than-life theatre productions that were feted at iconic global theatre venues like Edinburgh, Herrison, Versailles Palace as well as at the Golconda Fort, Falaknuma Palace and even the Oxford University in UK.

‘Chand Tara’, written and directed by Baig is shot in its picturesque beauty with soulful music and lyrics, aesthetic costumes and grand sets and has stellar names in its credits like Mohan Agashe, Anupam Kher, Masood Akhtar, Lucky Ali, Vasundhara Das and Karthik Illaiyaraja in addition to Baig himself leading like revered ensemble. Its grandeur perfectly matched with intense performances.

Mumbai theatre’s Ranjana Srivastava plays the protagonist while another seasoned Mumbai stage actress Reshma Shetty plays her sister Premamati. Hyderabadi veterans Rashmi Seth, S. A Majeed and Vijay Prasad are seen in important cameos. Its songs too mesmerized audiences in Cannes, where on popular demand they were played thrice for Italian, French, American and Korean film audiences.

Baig, playing the male lead of Sultan Abdullah carries himself with royal aplomb breathing life into the role of an irresponsible, horse-and-poetry loving prince to an able administrator ready to face the Mughal invasion of Golconda Kingdom in the 17th century. Incidentally, the film has a pan-India representation from Hyderabad, Chennai, Begaluru to Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Pune and Kolkata.

Mohan Agashe in 

'Chand Tara'