Hyderabad: After winning big at the New York Indian Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Awards, ‘Birha – The Journey Back Home’, starring Rajit Kapur, Manav Vij, Sahil Mehta and Seema Kaushal now gets selected at the The Ottawa Indian Film Festival Awards. The film has now become a part of 24 film festivals with the recent selection.
‘Birha – The Journey Back Home’ is a Punjabi short-film describing the heart-wrenching story of a family that tears apart due to the unjustified ambitions of a young child. Set in Punjab, the film highlights the plight of a family who gets destroyed by the lure of the West, which is a common problem in the State.
Birha transcends all colloquial and geographical boundaries with immense adulation in the international as well as the domestic circuit. Produced by Ghalib Datta and Navneet Singh Gujral, and directed by Puneet Prakash, the film has won the ‘Best Film’ award at Amsterdam International Film Festival, Hollywood Shorts FEST, Los Angles Film Awards (LAFA), New York Indian Film Festival, Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, and Gangtok International Film Festival. The Ottawa Indian Film Festival Awards commences on June 13 and will continue until June 17.
Rajit Kapur further added, “‘Birha – The Journey Back Home’ is a very personal and emotional film on multiple levels. I got so immersed in character and felt that some mystical power was guiding me. I had a very good connection with Puneet and Ghalib. We were all on the same page. This is my first Punjabi film and I was glad to represent my heritage.”
Director Puneet Prakash added, “Birha has been made with a lot of heart. Children are progressively forgetting family values and the sacrifices that parents make to fulfil their dreams. This film is an ode to such families who are torn apart. We are indeed very proud about the adulation that our film has been garnering.”
Hemant Singh is the writer of the film, while Pratik Deora is the DOP and the music has been composed by Anand Bajpai. Mukesh Thakur is the editor.