Tabu’s spy-thriller ‘Khufiya’ to open IFFLA

Vishal Bhardwaj directs 'Khufiya', adapted from the novel 'Escape to Nowhere' penned by a former chief of R&AW's counter-espionage division.

Los Angeles: The Tabu-starrer action-spy-thriller film ‘Khufiya’ is all set to have its world premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA).

Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, ‘Khufiya’ is based on the novel ‘Escape to Nowhere’, written by the former R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing) chief of counter espionage, Amar Bhushan, seeing the ‘Andhadhun’ actress as a covert operative, embarking on a secret and dangerous mission that requires her to juggle roles as a spy and a lover.

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Vishal, known best for his dramatic film adaptations of Shakespeare’s works with films such as ‘Maqbool’, ‘Omkara’, ‘Haider’ and more lately, with his Agatha Christie retread, in ‘Charlie Chopra’, will also give a full masterclass on his filmmaking journey and multi-faceted creative process across screenwriting, directing and music, as was reported by Variety.

The festival’s other feature selections include: the world premiere of Atul Sabharwal’s ‘Berlin’, Dominic Sangma’s Garo-language film supernatural tale ‘Rapture’, the Malayalam film ‘Aattam’ (or ‘The Play’) by Anand Ekarshi, and ‘Joram’, by Devashish Makhija.

‘Aatam’ is full scale chamber drama starring Vinay Forrt, and covers the personal story of a chaotic venture, that ensues amidst a twelve-man theater troupe when their sole female member is groped by one of her colleagues, covering aspects of sexual harassment and molestation.

‘Joram’, which stars Manoj Bajpayee and Tannishtha Chatterjee, is a neo-noir adventure thriller where a young couple flee their tribal battleground for a peaceful life in Mumbai, only to be followed by a ruthless shadow from their past who sends them clinging for dear life.

IFFLA’s US premieres of two documentary features are: ‘The World is Family’, by filmmaker Anand Patwardhan which pays tribute to his parents whose lives were closely linked with India’s Independence movement and ‘The Golden Thread’, by Nishtha Jain, a lyrical homage to one of the last remaining jute mills in West Bengal.

IFFLA executive director Christina Marouda said: “We are thrilled to enter IFFLA’s third decade offering a unique and much needed platform for emerging South Asian storytellers, and bringing a highly curated program to Los Angeles audiences.”

“Los Angeles has become home to countless artists with roots across South Asia and its diasporas. IFFLA has long been a vital touchstone for filmmakers due to both the platform it provides for their work to be seen in the heart of the American film industry as well as the support and networking it has offered the directors, actors, and other film artists”, she added.

The festival will wrap with the North American premiere of dramedy ‘All India Rank’, by Varun Grover. The film had its premiere at the Rotterdam festival in January.