Accolades continue for Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple

A still from the film, The Disciple, Picture Courtesy: YouTube

After bagging the Best Screenplay Award and the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month, Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple won the Amplify Voices Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The jury comprising actor Sarah Gadon, producer Damon D'Oliveira and director Danis Goulet described the Marathi film as "visually sumptuous and insightful".

The citation read: 'Masterful in its restraint, this film, about a struggling classical Indian
musician, explores the tension between traditional discipline and the contemporary impulse to be instantly validated'. The award includes a $10,000 cash prize. "News like this brightens our day and gives us hope," said Tamhane.

The Marathi movie narrates the story of a vocalist, played by Aditya Modak, who has to balance life in Mumbai with his chosen vocation. Tamhane says he was uncertain about its prospects when several film festivals were cancelled in the wake of the pandemic. "It was weird to have finished the movie and be sitting on it. I was told it's probably the worst year for a filmmaker to finish a film, since the World War II. Fortunately, the Venice Film Festival took place in all its glory even though there were a lot of protocols to be followed. We were there to present the film and see it on the big screen."

Tamhane had won wide acclaim at home as well as in the international festival circuit with his debut directorial effort, the Marathi film Court (2014). Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron took to mentoring filmmaker Tamhane shortly after that, and has now executive-produced the new-age Indian director's new film, The Disciple.

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