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EightFeatureFilmProjectsSelectedforSecondMumbaiMantra|SundanceInstituteScreenwritersLab

EightFeatureFilmProjectsSelectedforSecondMumbai
Mantra|SundanceInstituteScreenwritersLab
MumbaiMantra,themediaandentertainmentdivision
of the Mahindra Group, in collaboration with Sundance Institute, has
selectedeightIndianScreenwritersandtheirfeaturefilmprojectsforthe
second annual Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab
scheduledfromMarch1015ataClubMahindraResort.

VIDEOGALLERY

This years Screenwriting Fellows, selected from submissions from

SarthakDasgupta(TheMusicTeacher)Pratim
Nitin Kakkar (Black Freedom) Abhijit Mazumdar
TerrieSamundra(Betamax)RenukaShahane(Tribhanga)
)andNehaSinha(Forgiven).
At the Lab, Screenwriting Fellows will engage in an artistically
demanding process that offers indispensable lessons in craft, a fresh
perspective on their work and a platform to fully realize their material.
Screenwriting Fellows will have the opportunity to work intensely on
their feature film scripts in an environment that encourages innovation
and creative risktaking, with the support of a distinguished group of
establishedScreenwritersandDirectorsservingasCreativeAdvisors.

Hate...

BillWheeler(TheReluctantFundamentalist,
JoshuaMarston(Maria Full of Grace),AsifKapadia (The
HabibFaisal(Do Dooni Chaar, Ishaqzaade Born to
Destined to Love), Sabrina Dhawan (Monsoon
AnjumRajabali(Rajneeti,Aaraakshan),MartiNoxon(Mad
CarlosCuaron(YTuMamaTambien,RudoYCursi),and
Hook,OnceAround).

PHOTOGALLERY

Mahindrabuildsthreethings:products,services,and
possibilities

The Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab was

announced and inaugurated today during a star studded brunch at JW
Marriott, Mumbai. The ones seen included Anil Kapoor, Sharmila
Tagore, Irrfan Khan, Rahul Bose, Tisca Chopra, Kunal Kapoor,
Siddharath Basu, Meeta Vashishtha, Sanjay Suri, Onir, Swara
Bhaskar, Sushma Reddy, Sridhar Raghavan, Tanuja Chandra,
amongstothers.
,Chairman,MumbaiMantra,said,Weareatanexciting
storytellingstageinthehistoryofIndependentCinemainIndia.Withthe
help of our exceptional partner, Sundance Institute, we are keen to
recognize, nurture and hone talent in India and across the world. We
welcome to the Lab the 9 remarkably talented Screenwriters and
DirectorswhoaresparingtheirvaluabletimetoguidetheScreenwriting
Fellows. We congratulate the 8 Screenwriting Fellows selected for the
secondMumbaiMantra|SundanceInstituteScreenwritersLabandlook
forward to their next films with great anticipation. I thank the Advisory
Committee members for so generously giving back to the Indian Film
Industry by reading innumerable screenplays in order to arrive at this

, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature

PaulFederbush,InternationalDirector,FeatureFilm
Sundance Institute and Mumbai Mantra share a
thegrowthofindependentartistsinIndiaand
we look forward with excitement to our second Screenwriters Lab
together. We are grateful to the accomplished screenwriters who are
bringing their expertise and generosity to the Lab as Creative Advisors
and the very talented group of Indian screenwriters who have been

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Mumbai Mantra received over 500 applications for the Lab from Indian
screenwriters across the globe. After intense debate and deliberation
and consultation with the Sundance Institute, the final 8 projects were

TheSelectionAdvisoryCommitteeincludedDevBenegal,IraBhaskar,
Pubali Chaudhuri, Uma Da Cunha, Rashmi Doraiswamy, Habib
Faisal, K. Hariharan, Deven Khote, Prakash Kovelamudi, Ram
Madhvani, Neeru Nanda, Sriram Raghavan, Anjum Rajabali,
Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Mahesh Samat, Meenakshi Shedde,

+5RecommendthisonGoogle

9peoplelikethis.

The Lab is one facet of a creative and strategic collaboration between

Mahindra Group that helps Indian filmmakers
connecttoeverincreasingglobalaudiences.TheinauguralLabthatwas

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EightFeatureFilmProjectsSelectedforSecondMumbaiMantra|SundanceInstituteScreenwritersLab
heldlastyearwasanoverwhelmingsuccess.LastyearsScreenwriting
FellowsandtheirprojectsincludedCharuduttAcharya(SonaliCable
Shonali Bose & Nilesh Maniyar (Margarita, With a Straw),
Toothache), Rajnesh Domalpalli (Avani), Prashant
Anusha Rizvi & Mahmood Farooqui(Opium), Ajitpal
KartikSingh(PublicSchool).
At the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A.,
Sundance Institute and Mahindra announced four recipients of the
Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards, which
includesacashawardof$10,000andattendanceattheSundanceFilm
Festivalforaspeciallycuratedfivedayprogramoftargetedcreativeand
industrymeetings,screeningsandpanels.The2013awardwinnersare
THEMUSICTEACHER(India),Etienne Jonas
A CHJANA (Italy/US), Vendela Vida & Eva Weber /
LETTHENORTHERNLIGHTSERASEYOURNAME(UK/Germany)
THE MAN WHO KILLED MY DEAD BELOVED

The Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award

Nomination Committee for the Indian Award winner included Anil
Anjum Rajabali (Screenwriter, Film Professor), K.
(Film Academy Head), Ira Bhaskar (Film Professor),
(Writer Director), Ramesh Sippy (Director
Sharmila Tagore (Actor), Shabana Azmi (ActorActivist)
(Director).
Now in its third year, the award has proved to be a vital platform for
some of the most promising international filmmakers. In the past year,
three former award winners wrapped production on their projects
(Romania), Seng Tat Liews In What City
(Malaysia), and Tayla Lavies Zero Motivation (Israel)
withseveralotherspoisedtobeginproductionthisyear.
PROJECTSANDSCREENWRITERSSELECTED

The life of a small town music teacher takes a sharp turn when one of
his exstudents, now estranged, a big celebrity in the faraway city
today, is slated to visit the town after many years. The teacher, now
lovelorn, prepares to meet her not knowing if she still bears the same
feelingsabouthimasshedidthosemanyyearsback.
Writer/director:SarthakDasgupta
WithaBachelorsdegreeinEngineering,aMastersdegreeinBusiness
Management,andfiveyearsinthecorporateworldofMumbai,Sarthak
Dasguptarealizedlifeneededadifferentdefinitionthantheonehewas
living.Sarthaklefthiscushyjobandsetouttobecomeafilmmaker.His
The Great Indian Butterfly has screened at various

A struggling journalist chances upon a scandalous story which has the

potentialtorocktheworldofshowbiz.
Writer/director:PratimD.Gupta
Pratim D. Gupta has been the resident film critic for The Telegraph
newspaperinKolkata,thelargestsellingEnglishdailyineastIndia,for
eightyears.HisscreenplayTheDeathsofRaywasselectedfromIndia
fortheBingerScriptLabatthe2009LocarnoInternationalFilmFestival.
Afterglow) was Pratims first feature film as writer
director.The 2012 romantic drama was selected as the Centrepiece
PremiereattheSouthAsianInternationalFilmFestivalinNewYorkand
was picked as the New Voice in Indian Cinema at the Mumbai
International Film Festival. It also won the Best Film Award at Kalakar
Awards, one of the oldest and most prestigious award ceremonies in

isacollectionoffiveshortstorieswoveninonefilm.It
is dedicated to the memory of Saadat Hasan Manto. Its about his
dream of a subcontinent where people will still live as people,
irrespective of religion, caste or color, where hatred shall stand
abolished, where religion shall only ennoble those who follow it, not
divide them into warring tribes. Sixtyfive years after independence,
Mantosdreamremainsadream...
The5shortstoriesofMantothatthefilmisinspiredfromareTobaTek
KholDo,TetwaalKaKutta,SharifanandTheLastSalute.
Writerdirector:NitinKakkar
After gaining experience as an assistant director for various Hindi
movies,NitinKakkarmadehisdirectorialdebutwiththeawardwinning

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EightFeatureFilmProjectsSelectedforSecondMumbaiMantra|SundanceInstituteScreenwritersLab
Black Freedom (2004). Since then, he has worked on a
number of television projects including Prayaschit, Jersey No 10, and
. Nitins debut feature film Filmistaan received a Special Jury
Mention during its World Premiere at the Busan International Film
Festival. Thefilm also won Nitin the Best Debut Director at the
InternationalFilmFestivalofKeralaandJaipurfilmFestival

A story about six people and their manic missions...six specs of dust
crisscrosspaths,readytoraiseastormintheendlesscityofMumbai.
Writer/director:AbhijitMazumdar
Abhijit Mazumdar is a Direction graduate from Film & Television
Institute of India, Pune. He has made a number of short films,
documentaries and commercials. His films have received both national
andinternationalawards.HislatestmediumlengthfilmVanishingPoint
is an official selection in Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
2013, Glasgow Short Film Festival (Competition Section Adrift) 2013,
InternationalFilmFestivalofIndia(IndianPanorama)2012,International
Documentary&ShortFilmFestival,Kerala(FocusSection)2012.

Withthereleaseofthefirsthomevideocamcorder,ateenageSikhboy
and a squatter Punk girl become unlikely friends and filmmaking
collaborators as London sits on the brink of race riots and a youth
uprisinginthesummerof1976.
Writer/director:TerrieSamundra
Terrie Samundra grew up between a rural village in India, a small
farmingtowninMissouri,andtheCaliforniacoast.Sheisthedirectorof
theawardwinningshort?lmsKunjoandAShortTaleofXuanandisco
, the ?rst screenplay in The Ballad of Pooja
trilogy.SheisaPrincessGraceAwardrecipient,aNationalGeographic
All Roads Seed Grant recipient, and is currently the Head Programmer
atthe2013IndianFilmFestivalofLosAngeles.

isastoryofthreewomen,fromthesamefamily,of
threedifferentgenerations.Thelivesofthesethreewomenoverlapeach
others like concentric circles each determining the shape of the
other each contributing to the others life in a very deep manner
eachbecomingtheothersstrengthinkeytimesintheirlife.Theirlives
are like Tribhanga, the Odissi dance pose that is so disjointed, yet so
beautiful,magicalandmesmerising.
Writer/director:RenukaShahane
Renuka Shahane has been an actress in Indian theatre, television and
film for the past 25 years. Her work in television includes Lifeline,
Surabhi, Circus, Imtihaan, Sailaab, Closeup Antakshari, Kora Kaagaz
andthecelebritydancecompetitionJhalakDikhlaJaa.Inherfilmwork,
she is best known for the Bollywood blockbuster Hum Aapke Hain
HerfirstfeatureasdirectorwasthecriticallyacclaimedRita for
which she won Best director for a Marathi film at the 16th Nokia Star
Screen Awards 2010. She also received the Best Screenplay Award in
Marathi Films competitive section of the 8th Pune International Film

Television is a story about three men Vijay, who is about to get

marriedandstartanewlifeRavi,whowantsbestforhis3yearoldson
and must decide between his principals and the ways of world and
Malik,whoisnowretiredandwantstoliveapeacefullife.
Unforeseen circumstances have put these three men at crossroads.
Theymustdecidewhatpathtochoose.
Writer/director:KavanjitSingh
Kavanjit Singh is a screenwriter and director from Pune, India. Kavan
startedhisfilmcareeratWhistlingWoods,graduatinginFilmDirection.
A former Infosys Project Manager with an undergraduate degree in
electronicsengineering,Kavanispursuinghispassionforcinema.
haswonnineBestShortFilmAwardsacrossthe

Amidstthesociopoliticalunrestof1987inKerala,arebelliousdaughter
fromanuppercastefamilyandherimpressionableyoungniecesetinto
motionaseriesofeventsthatleadtobetrayalandadramaticdeath.16
yearson,withthepatriarchonhisdeathbed,thedisintegratedfamilyis
forcedtocometogether,revisittheirpastandfindforgiveness.
Writerdirector:NehaSinha

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EightFeatureFilmProjectsSelectedforSecondMumbaiMantra|SundanceInstituteScreenwritersLab
After studying Philosophy at Lady Shri Ram College and film at the
NationalInstituteofDesign,NehaSinhahasworkedasadocumentary
filmmakerandasartdirectorattheadvertisingfirmJWT.Shehasalso
been a creative assistant to adman Ram Madhvani on various
commercials, including the Cannes Lions 2007winning 'Palace' for
, and assisted Abhinay Deo on Aamir Khan
Productions acclaimed film Delhi Belly. Currently, she works with
Siddharth Basu in Big Synergy where she develops content and fiction
isherfirstoriginalscreenplay.

The Mahindra Group focuses on enabling people to rise through

solutions that power mobility, drive rural prosperity, enhance urban
lifestylesandincreasebusinessefficiency.
AUSD15.9billionmultinationalgroupbasedinMumbai,India,Mahindra
employs more than 155,000 people in over 100 countries. Mahindra
operates in the key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a
leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information
vacation ownership. In addition, Mahindra enjoys a
strongpresenceintheagribusiness,aerospace,components,consulting
, energy, financial services, industrial equipment,
,retail,steelandtwowheelerindustries.
In 2012, Mahindra featured on the Forbes Global 2000 list, a listing of
thebiggestandmostpowerfullistedcompaniesintheworld.

RomaBalwani
ChiefGroupCommunicationsOfficer
Mahindra&MahindraLtd.

balwani.roma@mahindra.com
MumbaiMantraMediaLtd
Mumbai Mantra Media Ltd, the Media & Entertainment vertical of the
Mahindra Group, is actively evaluating opportunities in content and
infrastructure in the domestic as well as international media and
entertainment space. Mumbai Mantra's Antaheen, won 4 National
AwardsincludingBestFeatureFilmin2009.Ithasalsocoproducedthe
film adaptation of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' directed by Julie
Taymor.Severalotherfilmsareindevelopment.
Mumbai Mantra has also made a commitment towards providing a
platform for independent voices in Indian cinema to champion an
emerging generation of exciting film makers. The first step in this
direction is the forging of a partnership with the renowned Sundance
Institute founded by Robert Redford, for the establishment of the
MumbaiMantra|SundanceInstituteScreenwritersLabwhichisplanned
to be an annual event in India, and the Sundance Institute | Mahindra
Global Filmmaking Award to be awarded to 4 international film makers
www.mumbaimantra.com
SundanceInstituteFeatureFilmProgram
Since 1981, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) has
supported more than 600 independent filmmakers whose distinctive,
singular work has engaged audiences worldwide. The programs
approach to the discovery and development of independent artists has
become a model for creative development programs internationally.
Program staff fully embraces the unique vision of each filmmaker,
encouraging a rigorous creative process with a focus on original and
deeplypersonalstorytelling.
Eachyear,upto30emergingfilmmakersfromtheU.S.andaroundthe
worldparticipateinayearroundcontinuumofsupportwhichcaninclude
the Screenwriters and Directors Labs, Composers Lab, Creative
Producing Fellowship and Lab, Creative Producing Summit, a Workin
ProgressScreeningInitiative,aScreenplayReadingSeries,theFeature
Film Program Fund, offering direct financial support through named
grants, awards, and artist fellowships, the Artist Services program, a
newinitiativeprovidingstrategicresourcesforcrowdfundinganddigital
distribution,andongoingcreativeandstrategicadvice.
In 2011, the FFP created the New Frontier Story Lab, supporting
innovative artists developing projects across multiple platforms,
emphasizingtheconvergenceofstorytellingandtechnology.
Over its 30year history, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program
has supported an extensive list of awardwinning and groundbreaking
independent films. Notable films supported over the programs history
Sin Nombre, Josh Marstons Maria Full of

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EightFeatureFilmProjectsSelectedforSecondMumbaiMantra|SundanceInstituteScreenwritersLab
RequiemforaDream,WalterSallesCentral
, and Quentin Tarantinos Reservoir Dogs, amongst
www.sundance.org/featurefilm
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global,
nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression
in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between
artistsandaudiences.TheInstitutepromotesindependentstorytellingto
unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geopolitical, social, religious or
Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its
artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers,
filmcomposers,playwrightsandtheatreartists,SundanceInstitutehas
BornintoBrothels,TroubletheWater,Beasts
of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring
LightinthePiazzaandAngels in America. Join Sundance
TwitterandYouTube.
MediaContactsforMumbaiMantra/SundanceInstitute:

mukta.mumbaimantra@gmail.com
SarahEaton+001310.360.1981
sarah
_eaton@sundance.org

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