Onir’s next film I AM is slated for a release in February 2011. Recently the director of My brother Nikhil fame gave his followers on Facebook and Twitter a look behind the scenes of his project which, in 2010, has bagged several awards at prestigious international film festivals.
I AM is “about people with fractured lives held together by unbroken dreams”. Four short films – Afia, Megha, Abhimanyu and Omar – woven together to one film about issues and dilemmas that bruise the modern Indian society. Each of the four films is about real-life incidents.Shot in four different cities across India, I AM is a fusion of stories where the protagonists share a common dream – a desire to regain their lives. Afia about a woman longing for a baby and considering artificial insemination is inspired by the experiences of Rima Kohli (Cast: Nandita Das, Anurag Basu, Purab Kohli). She is afraid of the ticking clock, and unable to trust or even wait for a man, she decides to find that perfect donor who can give her the perfect child. Her search takes her through the underbelly of desire- desperation. Megha is a story of two friends – a Kashmiri pandit woman and a muslim woman – separated by conflict. Against the backdrop of the ethnic cleansing in Kashmir in the late 80’s and early 90’s, this story tells of loss of home and identity.(Cast: Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala). Abhimanyu shows a story of sexual child abuse basing on the fates of Ganesh Mallori and Harish Iyer, both of whom personally had opened up to Onir with their stories. Most unfortunately, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and UNICEF, 53% of children in India are abused (Cast: Sanjay Suri, Anurag Kashyap, Radhika Apte). And Omar revolves about discrimination of homosexuals, using stories provided by Gay Bombay. It is a horrific tale of sexual discrimination; blackmail and prejudice is part of the torrid fabric. It reveals how the police use Article 377 (law under Indian Penal code which criminalizes homosexuality) to harass and blackmail gay men.” (Cast: Rahul Bose, Arjun Mathur, Abhimanyu Singh).
FORBES (India) listed I AM as one of five Indian films to look forward to in 2011.
Check out the behind the scenes looks!
