The world premiere of Hansal Mehta’s Faraaz starring Zahan Kapoor and Aditya Rawal took place at the prestigious Curzon Cinema in Soho, London over the weekend to a packed audience that was left awestruck by the film.
The gripping drama, inspired by the Holey Artisan attack in Dhaka where 22 people were brutally killed, Faraaz received spontaneous applause after the show and was followed by a 15-minute Q and A with the cast and crew, moderated by Damon Wise, who asked about the film's real-life parallels, the eclectic casting and what Faraaz being a story of standing tall in the face of grave injustice means today. The film had a total of 3 screenings over the weekend which were packed to capacity as patrons showed up in huge numbers for the film. People even queued up in large numbers outside the cinema to get last-minute entries.
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An overwhelmed Hansal Mehta said, "It's a very emotional moment for me as the hard work and the many challenges that we have faced in making this film has finally paid off. I'm truly overwhelmed by the terrific response at the BFI London Film Festival. The energy in the auditorium was infectious. The audience had some really sharp questions to ask following the screening."
Producer Anubhav Sinha added, "Hansal is one of the few filmmakers of today that keeps his cinema so realistic and true. Faraaz was a story that needed to be told and Hansal has done perfect justice to the catastrophic events of that night. We're very happy that the audience is receiving it with all this love."
Bhushan Kumar further said “It really is amazing to see our effort being so well received. It’s an honour to have sold out shows and so much buzz around the movie. It really puts back your belief in the power of storytelling. Very grateful for the love the movie is being showered with.”
Faraaz is produced by Bhushan Kumar and Anubhav Sinha in association with Sakshi Bhatt, Sahil Saigal and Mazahir Mandsaurwala and directed by Hansal Mehta. The film is jointly produced under the banners Benaras Mediaworks and T-Series in association with Mahana Films. The primary cast includes - Zahaan Kapoor, Aditya Rawal, Juhi Babbar, Aamir Ali, Pallak Lalwani, Sachin Lalwani and Reshham Sahaani.
