Film will be made in Hindi and English.
By Tathagata Mitra
BANGALORE: Ajay Devgn has a reputation for not only being one of the biggest heroes of B-town, but also to be one of the most resourceful producers in the Hindi film industry. The Singham actor has now roped in Russell Carpenter, the Hollywood cinematographer who received an Oscar for his work in James Cameron’s Titanic, for an exciting new film.
The film that Carpenter will be working on is one unlike anything else that Devgn has earlier produced. ‘Parched’ will be a film set in the backdrop of Rajasthan, and will be made in two versions, one Hindi, the other English. The most recent film of that kind to have gained any popularity was Aamir Khan produced Delhi Belly. According to sources, Devgn plans on sending the English version to various platforms across the world.
Described as the bittersweet journey of a group of local women contending with the elements in rural India, Parched is written and directed by Leena Yadav, who had earlier directed films like Shabd and the Ben Kingsley and Amitabh Bachchan starrer Teen Patti. Yadav’s films have never really gelled well with the critics, but she has a reputation for selecting unique subjects.
The film is being co-produced by Aseem Bajaj, who is Yadav’s husband and who had shot Devgn’s films like the Golmaal series. Incidentally Aseem Bajaj had partnered with Carpenter for the IT-genius biopic Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher. While Carpenter had shot the scenes set in the US, Bajaj had been tasked to shoot the scenes set in India.
According to The Times of India, when contacted about the news Yadav said, “I sent across the script to him in LA. He loved it so much that he immediately agreed to come on board. We have shot in some parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat and Russell has done an impeccable job.”
A part of the film’s crew is also going to be Hughes Winborne, who won best editing in 2004 for Paul Haggis’ Crash.
Actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, known for her work in Brick Lane, is a part of this project.