Unlikely collaborators, YRF and Dibakar Banerjee, jointly produce Kanu Behl’s directorial debut
After collaborating on successful films, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye and Love Sex Aur Dhoka, critically acclaimed filmmaker Dibakar Bannerjee and his protégé, Kanu Behl, return with Titli.
Produced by Dibakar Bannerjee and presented by Yash Raj Films, the gritty family drama set in Delhi marks the directorial debut of Kanu Behl.
Kanu’s successful association with his mentor, Dibakar started in 2007. Kanu began as Dibakar’s DA (director’s assistant) and script supervisor on Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye and became his chief assistant director and co-writer on LSD.
Many filmmakers have launched their protégé as directors in the past, but this is for the first time Dibakar has produced a film for his assistant director.
Praising Kanu, Dibakar says, “I’m producing Titli because I couldn’t direct it! I wish I did. But unfortunately, I couldn’t have bettered Kanu’s intensity, talent and vision. So this was the next best option. To produce one of the best directorial debuts ever! Titli takes off where Khosla Ka Ghosla leaves off and then throws it out of the ballpark.”
Talking about his fruitful collaboration with Dibakar, the debutant director says, “It has been an interesting association with Dibakar over all these years and I’ve had much to learn. We’re both excited and looking forward to ‘Titli’ release. It’s a film made with all my blood and guts in it and I’m keen to find out how the audiences will react to it.”
Titli’s editor Namrata Rao has also edited Dibakar’s earlier films including Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye and Love Sex Aur Dhoka.
Starring newcomers, Shashank Arora and Shivani Raghuvanshi, Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial and Lalit Behl, Titli is a tale of a dysfunctional family and a man’s struggle to escape his oppressive family.
The YRF- Dibakar Banerjee film made its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes International Film Festival last year.
After a successful run in France and Germany, Titli is set to release in India on October 16th
Film Synopsis
In the badlands of Delhi’s underbelly, Titli, the youngest member of a violent car-jacking brotherhood, plots a desperate bid to escape the ‘family’ business. His schemes are thwarted by his unruly brothers, who marry him off against his will. But Titli finds an unlikely ally in his new wife, Neelu, who nurtures her own frustrated dreams. They form a strange, mutually exploitative pact to break the stranglehold of their family roots. But is escape the same as freedom?
