Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2021 to screen Ashish Pant's directorial debut Uljhan

Filmmaker Ashish Pant’s directorial debut feature Uljhan (The Knot) will be screened at the upcoming Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), the organisers announced on Monday. The IFFLA will kickstart from 20 May and run through 27 May. Starring Saloni Batra, best known for Soni, and Vikas Kumar of Hamid fame, the film follows a married couple Geeta and Shirish, who, in a car accident injure a pedestrian. How they deal with its practical and emotional implications is the plot of the story. Pant, who has in the past directed short films, said he is grateful to his producers for backing the movie. “My journey for Uljhan (The Knot) began when I applied to Film Bazaar, the largest co-production market for South Asian Films by NFDC. “The script for was one of the 18 projects selected for the co-production market where I met Kartikeya (producer) whose work I really admire and on my urging, he agreed to read the script and Uljhan (The Knot) came to life,” the director said in a statement. The film, which was screened at the recently concluded Santa Barbara Film Festival, has been produced by Route One Productions in association with Kartikeya Narayan Singh and Christopher Zalla. Singh, who has previously backed Soni, said he is always on the lookout for emerging and new directorial talent. “Having read the script and meeting Ashish at the NFDC Film bazaar, I recognised that this was a talent driven by integrity, focus, hard work and craftsmanship,” the producer said.