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Starring: Juhi Chawla,
Manisha Koirala, Sanjay Suri, Kalki Koechlin, Radhika
Apte, Shernaz Patel, Pooja Gandhi, Rahul Bose, Anurag
Kashyap, Arjun Mathur
Directed by Onir
I AM is a film which has four different stories
about four characters Afia, Megha, Abhimanyu and Omar
shot in Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kashmir. It is a
new age bollywood film which takes up different stories
about various characters and has a string that binds
them together and this is what holds this honest film
with fine performances.
I AM is about issues and dilemmas that bruise the modern
Indian society. Unraveling and exploring these
tribulations, the film unfolds many a tale of
individuals struggling to find their identity, and
uphold their dignity in a world that is callous, cold
and unsympathetic.
I AM ABHIMANYU is the story
of a broken man, with a proud mask. Abhimanyu (Sanjay
Suri) is trapped by the demons of his past, a past of
sexual abuse by his step father (Anurag Kashyap). To
move forward he must first go back, into a world where
his childhood was stolen from him.
I AM OMAR is a horrific tale of sexual discrimination;
blackmail and prejudice is part of the torrid fabric.
Omar (Arjun Mathur) and his new partner Jai (Rahul Bose)
are accosted by a vulgar homophobic cop (Abhimanyu
Singh) showering filthy language and his even filthier
intentions towards the cowering gay couple. This part
has very impressive performances from Arjun and Rahul
while it is Abhimanyu Singh who comes up a with
wonderful effort.
Cast:
Juhi Chawla
Manisha Koirala
Rahul Bose
Nandita Das
Sanjay Suri
Purab Kohli
Abhimanyu Singh
Arjun Mathur
Shernaz Patel
Radhika Apte
Anurag Basu
Anurag Kashyap
Special Appearance
Pooja Gandhi
Manav Kaul
Rushad Rana
Behram Rana
Madhu Sagar
Arry Dabbas
Mukesh Sawlani
Faisal Burza
Fayeem Shah
Mushtaq Kak
Aruna
Zain Salam
Zubin Jauhari
Dhrishit Sonegara
Sayali Brahme |
Shot in four different
cities across India, I AM is a fusion of stories where
the protagonists share a common dream – a desire to
regain their lives, to regain an identity which has been
taken away from them.
I AM AFIA is the story of a single woman who feels her
identity will be made whole through the singular
feminine experience of motherhood. It’s about Purab
Kohli and Nandita Das who is unable to trust or even
wait for a man, her search is defined – does motherhood
necessarily require the burden of a man?
I AM MEGHA is a story of two friends – a Kashmiri Pandit
woman and a Muslim woman – separated by conflict played
by Juhi Chawla and Manisha Koirala. Against the backdrop
of the exodus of Hindu’s in Kashmir in early 90’s, it’s
a story of loss of home and identity. If your own home
rejects you, where do you go and where are you “from”?
It reveals how the police
use Article 377 (law under Indian Penal code which
criminalizes homosexuality) to harass and blackmail gay
men. In the current climate of media sensationalism,
perhaps this story gains even more poignancy.
Characters move in and out of the stories, thus linking
them in terms of content and structure. In all, I AM is
about glimpses into the lives of people who often do not
know what’s right and very often, do not do the right
thing. There is a beauty in simple things, and a dignity
in individual struggle – through its stories, I AM
reflects the story of everyone.
I AM is born of true life incidents. And it makes us
think. A highly recommended film for viewers with an
appetite for an issue-centric drama.
- Amarjeet
Credits & Crew:
Production Company - Anticlock Films
Produced by Sanjay Suri & Onir
Directed by Onir
Associate Producers - Juhi Chawla, Jay Mehta, Sangita
Modi, Anish Modi
Lyrics - Amitabh Bhattacharya & Amitabh Varma
Sound Design - Arun Nambiar
Editor - Irene Dhar Mallik and Onir
Writer - Urmi Juvekar, Merle Kroeger & Onir
Director of Photography - Arvind Kannabiran Styling -
Manish Malhotra, Anita Dongre, Aki Narula, Dev
Music - Amit Trivedi, Vivek Philip, Rajiv Bhalla
Publicity Design - Siddharth Dutta
Marketing - Tarun Tripathi
Marketing Consultant - Vikramjit Roy
Associate Director - Amar Kaushik
Distributed by PVR pictures
Graphics - Siddhart Meer
Publicity Stills - Sayan Sur Roy
Public Relations - Raindrop India
Online Consultant - Mayank Dhingra
Assistant Directors - Archis Achrekar, Diksha Sharma,
Chaitanya Kulkarni, Gopal Annam, Rumjhum Banerjee, Rohit
Arora, Sandeep Malani, Shrenik, Sunayana Kumari, Sumit
Arora
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