The two-time National Award winning actor’s home production captures the Koreans’ imagination

Manoj Bajpayee’s next film, Bhonsle, which had its world premiere at prestigious 23rd Busan International Film Festival 2018 received an outstanding reception from the audience.

Bajpayee will be seen in the titular role of a terminally ill lone wolf Maharashtrian cop Bhonsle, retired against his will, in politically tumultuous Mumbai, who finds himself forging an unlikely companionship with a 23-year-old North-Indian girl and her little brother, while the raging conflict destroying the world around them reaches his doorstep, giving him one last battle worth fighting for, but it might just be too late. The film also features a stellar cast like Marathi star Santosh Juvekar, theatre thespian Ipshita Chakraborty Singh and introducing the child artist Virat Vaibhav.

The acclaimed actor of Satya and Aligarh, Bajpayee who is excited about the world premiere says, “Great to hear some exciting response coming in from Busan. This is my third film in a row to make it there and I am quite happy about the film and Devashish Makhija the director and the entire team who sacrificed a lot to reach here.”

The director, Devashish Makhija, producers Piiyush Singh (Indie Muviz) and Saurabh Gupta walked the red carpet together. The film is one of nine international projects nominated for the Kim Jiseok Award in the A Window on Asian Cinema section.

The award will be given out together with a cash prize of $10,000  to the final two films, selected by the jury members at the closing ceremony, which will be held on October 13.

Writer-Director Makhija returned to Busan International Film Festival 2018 after his internationally acclaimed film, Ajji which premiered at the festival last year in the New Currents Competition. Delighted with the response Makhija says, “I was expecting, the Korean audience to treat my films as if one of their own has made it! They were with the character of Bhonsle right through. Having your film screen at a festival like Busan reinforces the belief that cultural and political boundaries are irrelevant when you’re addressing the human condition like Bhonsle does.”

Bhonsle producer Piiyush Singh of Indie Muviz says, “A world premiere, a packed house, an exceptional and engaged international audience. It has been the most satisfying experience to walk the red carpet with my first ever feature film as a producer, Bhonsle in the biggest film festival of South Asia, Busan.”

The film is produced by Manoj Bajpayee Productions, Golden Ratio Films, Promodome Motion Pictures and Indie Muviz and is slated to release later this year.