Chittagong to release on April 10

Bedabrata Pain’s film was stalled for two years as it shared its subject with Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey.

A two-year-long arduous journey to get Chittagong released is finally coming to an end. And understandably, debutant director Bedabrata Pain (Bedo) is “relieved and happy”. The multi-starrer has been chosen as the opening film of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, where it will have its world premiere on April 10.

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Bollywood productions like Abhinay Deo’s Delhi Belly (2011) and Sriram Raghavan’s Agent Vinod will also be screened at the fest, besides critically acclaimed movies like Salim Ahmed’s Abu Son of Adam (2011), Rajan Khosa’s Gattu, Karan Gour’s Kshay (2011) and Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni’s Deool (2011).

Thanking filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj and Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, “without whose support the film may have never seen the light of the day,” he says, “Emotionally, both me and Shonali (Shonali Bose co-writer and wife) were in a sad state. Despite having lost our teenage son in an accident, we completed the film before its then-release date. Yet we have had to wait for two years.”

The Manoj Bajpai-starrer was supposed to release in 2010, but since Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010) also revolved around the Chittagong revolution of 1930, the film was delayed. The director adds, “We had no control over the decisions made to accommodate another film. These two years have taken a toll on me. I may not direct any time soon. After the release, I want to take a long break.”