‘Qissa’ finally releases in India
Neha saini
Tribune News service
Amritsar, February 19
Irrfan Khan starrer and NFDC’s “Qissa”, finally will see a limited release in India at multiple platforms. The film, which received critical as well as commercial success at prestigious film festivals, including Toronto International Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival, Abu Dhabi International Film Festival and international film festivals at Rotterdam and Australia, will see a first ever simultaneous release in theatres as well as home-viewing and pay-per-view.
A break away from the conventional moulds of commercial and parallel cinema, “Qissa” has a period backdrop and contemporary theme. As the release comes after a year of delay, the film’s youngest star, Riyaz Aulakh, was quite spontaneous in her reaction to the news, “Meri picture lagg gayi!!! (My film is out).” The child actor from Amritsar who plays the youngest daughter of Irrfan Khan’s character in the film, who is brought up as a boy by her father, has been anxiously waiting for the release of her debut film. “I was in first standard when I did the film. Now, I am giving my exams for the third standard. Even my friends teased me that my film has flopped, otherwise it would have been running in cinemas by now,” shared the nine-year-old. But Aulakh is a happy child now, an excited laughter being a tell-all.
Riyaz has been introduced to acting at early age, given her father is a noted children theatre artist. “She worked with me in two of my plays, was always a natural. When we she went for audition for the role, we did not know that the film will be a big deal. We are proud that she is associated with such meaningful film at a young age,” says her father Harnek Aulakh. The innocence in her still intact even after being apart of a high-profile project, her father Harnek says that the family doesn’t talk much about films around her. “We want her to concentrate on her studies first and later decide if she wants to make a career in films.”
Her father feels that good films not getting as much attention and acclaim in India is a big let down. “The film was not promoted on a large scale as many people are unaware that such a film on a topic that is extraordinary is being made and celebrated internationally. The limited release can have an impact on the film’s performance at box-office, but then that’s not the purpose behind its making.”
Ask Riyaz, and she knows that her film had won some important award in Canada, NETPAC or Network for the promotion of Asian Cinema award for Best Asian Cinema to be exact.
The only spoiler for the family is that the film will be released in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh and Kolkata. “I will definitely go to see the film in Chandigarh after my exams are over,” she says with a promise.
