Actress-animator-filmmaker Gitanjali Rao’s latest animation feature Bombay Rose will open the Critics’ Week at the upcoming Venice International Film Festival on 29 August. Apart from directing, Rao, best known for films such as October, True Love Story and Printed Rainbow, is credited as the screenplay writer, cinematographer and editor of Bombay Rose.
“I have always wanted to paint stories about people who live and love in the streets of Bombay, never become success stories, yet their struggle for survival makes heroes out of them. This is the city with its cast of unsung heroes and heroines that I want to share with the world and why I started this labour of love six years ago,” Rao said in a statement.
The official synopsis of the film reads, “Amidst the struggle of survival in a big city, a red rose brings together three tales of impossible loves. Love between an unavailable girl and boy. Love between two women. Love of an entire city for its Bollywood stars.”
The voice cast includes Cyli Khare as Kamala, Amit Deondi as Salim, Makarand Deshpande as the villain, Anurag Kashyap as a Bollywood star, and Virendra Saxena as Kamala’s grandfather.
“It has been our privilege to work with Gitanjali and PaperBoat Studios over the last two years to bring this piece of beautiful cinema to life,” said Cinestaan’s producer Rohit Khattar in a press statement. He described the film as “a stunning love letter to Mumbai and its people”.
Produced by Cinestaan Film Company, Bombay Rose will be screened out-of-competition in Venice.
