The highly anticipated thriller Feast Of Varanasi premiered to a packed audience on Saturday 5th March as part of the London Asian Film Festival in central London.
Attended by the main cast and crew including director Rajan Kumar Patel, Ashwath Bhatt, Holly Gilbert and award winning producer Caroline O Reilly, the dark thriller has received huge praise from critics and the audience alike. Guests included: The Mayor and Mayoress of Kingston Upon Thames, EastEnder’s star Nitin Ganatra, comedian and playwright Nigel Planer and actress Seeta Indrani.
Director Rajan Patel commented: “It was great to see so many people support Independent cinema. It’s so important for independent filmmakers to be given a platform to showcase their talent. The whole project from start to finish has been a real labour of love for everyone involved. I have had the good fortune to work with such a wonderful production team and talented cast who all gave more than 100 percent to the project. Seeing several years of work represented on the screen and for the film to receive such positive reactions has put the icing on the cake. It was an incredible honour to premiere the film in London. I hope the audience enjoys the film when it releases on 11th March.”
The story centres around a spate of gruesome killings, where four young girls have been burned to death. A CBI officer Arjun Das (Adil Hussain, LIFE OF PI, THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST), arrives from New Delhi to investigate. What he discovers goes beyond anything he imagined and as ‘Holi’ the festival of colour approaches, the killer prepares to claim the greatest sacrifice of all and in doing so, attain moksha.
Meanwhile, following her mother’s suicide, Helen (Holly Gilbert, DOCTORS, CASUALTY), a young English teacher arrives in Varanasi to deliver her mother’s final letter and a special pendant to her aunt Agatha (Judi Bowker, 10 ARENAS OF MARWOOD, CLASH OF THE TITANS). Still grieving for her mother, Helen discovers some startling truths about herself and begins to unravel some deep seated emotional trauma with the help of Nana (Ashwath Bhatt, HAIDER, THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST), a reclusive priest who lives on the fringes of the forest. She soon learns about the serial killer and her own future is tied to the desperate acts of the illusive killer.
Feast Of Varanasi is a compelling, tense drama, which will throw up some unexpected surprises for even the most avid of thriller fans.
Filmed entirely on location in the ancient city of Varanasi in northern India, the feature showcases a talented supporting cast including: Tannishtha Chatterjee (BRICK LANE) as Inspector Rajveer Saxsena, Neha Mahajan (MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN) as Maya and Prashant Prakash (ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA) as Kasi.
Feast of Varanasi is released on selected screens across the UK on Friday 11th March 2016.
