Dhanush to make Cannes debut with The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir; film also stars Bérénice Bejo from The Artist

Three years after Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films production Visaaranai received a standing ovation at the prestigious Venice Film Festival by becoming the first Indian movie to feature in the competition section (Orizzonti category) of the event in its 72-year history, now the Aadukalam actor is all set to make his debut at the esteemed Cannes Film Festival in 2018 with his English-French film The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir. In 2015, Visaaranai, directed by Vetrimaaran, won the Amnesty International Italy’s Cinema For Human Rights award at the world’s film festival. The 71st Cannes Film Festival, which will open with the premiere screening of acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s Everybody Knows, is scheduled to held from 8 to 19 May. Dhanush, along with the makers of the film, will showcase his Hollywood debut at the Cannes Film Market – an important conclave where industry professionals, producers, buyers, distributors and festival programmers congregate to explore business opportunities. The teaser released by Sony Pictures which secured the film’s international rights for the UK and France in 2017 received a good response. The promo screenings of the film, whose runtime is 100 minutes, are slotted for 7 May 7 at 6 pm and 8 May at 9:30 am. At the 38th edition of the American Film Market in November 2017, the makers sold the film’s international rights to various territories including Japan, Brunei, Belgium, Germany, UK, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, Israel, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Spain. [caption id=“attachment_4446373” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir[/caption] Based on French author Romain Puértolas’ best-selling 2014 French novel, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe, the film is directed by Canadian filmmaker Ken Scott. Luc Bossi, best known for co-writing the French romance tragedy Mood Indigo, shares the writing credits for the film along with Romain Puértolas. Also starring Bérénice Bejo (The Artist), Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Erin Moriarty (Jessica Jones) and Abel Jafri (Timbuktu), The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir has been shot in Mumbai, Jodhpur, Rome, Paris, Casablanca, and Belgium by lensman Vincent Mathias. The movie, which pitches Dhanush in the lead role of a street-smart magician Ajatashatru embarking on an adventurous journey in Europe, is slated to release in France and Belgium on 30 May, followed by Russia on 13 June, and Germany on 16 August. Little Red Car Films, one of the movie’s co-producers, is planning to release the film in Tamil, English, and Hindi languages in India. An official announcement on the Indian release date is expected soon. The next big release for Dhanush would be Rajinikanth’s Kaala, which is produced by his home banner Wunderbar Films along with Lyca Productions. Kaala is gearing up to hit screens worldwide on 7 June. Dhanush is currently busy shooting for Balaji Mohan’s gangster Maari 2 in Binny Mills in Chennai. He also has Gautham Menon’s romantic thriller Enai Nokki Paayum Thota and Vetrimaaran’s Vada Chennai, which are under various phases of post-production. After completing Maari 2, Dhanush will move on to his yet-untitled sophomore directorial which will be bankrolled by Mersal producer Thenandal Studios. He also has a gangster-action film with director Karthik Subbaraj, which will start rolling after the Mercury director completes his next project with Rajinikanth and Sun Pictures.