Principal photography has wrapped on “The Storyteller,” directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan (Busan title “Bittersweet”).
The film is based on Indian Oscar winner Satyajit Ray’s short story “Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro.” In the story about originality versus plagiarism, Ray was raising the question: “What is more important – the story or the storyteller?”
A restored version of Ray’s “The Adversary” is playing at the Cannes Classics strand of the Cannes Film Festival.
The cast includes Paresh Rawal (Amazon Prime Video film “Sharmaji Namkeen”), Adil Hussain (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Revathi (Netflix anthology “Navarasa”) and Tannishtha Chatterjee (Busan title “Roam Rome Mein”).
The film is produced by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Studios (Netflix film “Dasvi”) in association with Purpose Entertainment (“Hotel Mumbai”) and Quest Films (Busan Kim Ji-seok Award winner “The Rapist”).
Mahadevan said: “As part of the celebrations around the life and work of the legend Satyajit Ray, we are very happy and honored to share our own humble homage to the master storyteller. ‘The Storyteller,’ a timeless fable, explores the mindset of people who exploit and are exploited. Ray’s subtle treatment of the subject makes one smile at what is, in fact, a revenge story. An amalgamation of wit, drama, and even suspense, the film is an attempt to bring Ray to a generation that has only heard about him or been occasionally exposed to his collection.”
As per reports a trio of films inspired by Ray’s work are in the works from Kolkata-based Indian producer-director Aritra Sen’s Roadshow Films and Los Angeles-based British writer-director Alex Harvey’s Big Bazaar Films.
A complete retrospective of Ray will open at London’s BFI Southbank in July. -Variety
