After its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, filmmaker and actor Nandita Das’ upcoming film Zwigato is set to premiere in India at the 27th International Film Festival of Kerala. The festival began in Trivandrum today and will run till December 16. The film starring Kapil Sharma and Shahana Goswani has been selected as the opening film in the Kaleidoscope section of the festival. The screenings are on December 10 and December 13.
Written and directed by Nandita, the film features Kapil as a food delivery rider who grapples with the world of ratings and algorithms. Shahana plays his wife, a homemaker, who starts to work to support his income. It is the story of the relentless struggle of life but not without their shared moments of joy. Set in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, the film captures the lives of invisible ordinary people that are hidden in plain sight.
Kapil began his film career with Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (2015) and then followed it up with Firangi (2017). High on the humour quotient, these commercial potboilers saw him in his element. Zwigato, however, will see him in a brand new avatar. In a recent interview with Rediff, he said that even if the indie film doesn’t perform well, he wouldn’t be at any loss.
“I recently told my wife, if this film doesn’t work, I will not lose anything. But if it succeeds and is a hit, then I will get a lot from it. People will say, ‘Kapil ne bahut accha kaam kiya ha’ (Kapil has done good work).’ It is important that more and more people watch the film. Comedy shows are my bread and butter. But because of that, I was motivated to look for something else to do… Someone asked weren’t you afraid? I said why should I be afraid? Woh dukaan to apni chal hee rahi hai (My shop is running smoothly). I am just adding on to that.”
Talking about the film earlier, Nandita had said, “It is a story about new urban India that is not just about the gig economy, but also about everything that we normalise around us. I found the perfect producing partner in Sameer Nair (producer) to tell this simple yet complex slice-of-life film.”
Zwigato is presented by Applause Entertainment and Nandita Das Initiatives.
