Manoj Bajpayee’s Bhonsle to have world premiere at Busan International Film Festival 2018

Manoj Bajpayee ’s upcoming feature _Bhonsle_ will have its world premiere at 23rd Busan International Film Festival 2018. [caption id=“attachment_5113051” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Stills from Bhonsle[/caption] The event, to be held from 4-13 October, will see Bajpayee’s political drama in the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ section, where it has been nominated for the Kim Jiseok Award. The award, along with a cash prize of $10,000 will be presented to the final two films, selected by the jury members at the closing ceremony. The film has been directed Devashish Makhija , who has previously collaborated with Bajpayee on the short film, _Taandav_ , which won him the Best Actor award for the short film at Filmfare Awards 2016. Manoj Bajpayee will be seen in the titular role of a terminally ill, lonely Maharashtrian cop Bhonsle, retired against his will, in politically tumultuous Mumbai. He finds himself forging an unlikely companionship with a 23-year-old North-Indian girl and her little brother, while the raging conflict destroying the world around them reaches his doorstep, giving him one last battle worth fighting for, but it might just be too late. The film also features a stellar cast like Marathi star Santosh Juvekar, theatre thespian Ipshita Chakraborty Singh and introduces the child artist Virat Vaibhav. Last year, writer-director Devashish Makhija’s Ajji had premiered at the festival, in the New Currents competition. He said, “The avant-garde Korean films have been one of my major cinematic inspirations. To have my films premiere in Korea then is like coming home.” Bhonsle will also mark Manoj Bajpayee’s return to the Busan Film Festival, after _Aligarh_ and _Gali Guleiyan_  (In The Shadows).  Bajpayee, who has also co-produced the film, said in a statement that Bhonsle would be coming out in the 25th year of his career, adding that he received the script four and a half years ago. Bhonsle producer Piiyush Singh of Indie Muviz said that the film works on two levels. “Firstly, it deals with the issue of immigrants and the conflict which arises due to man-made boundaries; and secondly, it takes us into the inner life of lonely policeman Bhonsle, who, irrespective of his caste and region, fights to remain “humane” first, before all else.” The film is produced by Manoj Bajpayee Productions, Golden Ratio Films, Promodome Motion Pictures and Indie Muviz and is slated to release later this year.