Sundance Film Festival 2019: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra's Photograph earns positive reviews

At the 2019 edition of Sundance Film Festival, India also made its presence known with films like Photograph , Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hoon and the seven-part series Delhi Crime Story. Photograph, written and directed by The Lunchbox helmer Ritesh Batra, had its world premiere at the festival. The film follows a struggling street photographer Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), pressured to marry by his grandmother, who convinces a shy stranger Miloni (Sanya Malhotra) to pose as his fiancee. The pair develop a connection that transforms them in ways that they could not expect. [caption id=“attachment_5638731” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Sanya Malhotra and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a still from Photograph. Image via Twitter/@PhotographAmzn[/caption] The film has received positive reviews mostly, with The  Hollywood Reporter’s Caryn James writing, “No one should head into a Batra film expecting fireworks, but for anyone who appreciates his understated style, Photograph is a satisfying, unswoony romance.” According to Fionnuala Hallugan of Screen Daily, “Photograph will find its following with hopeless romantics, whether that be on the big screen or small.” Delhi Crime Story, created by Indo-Canadian filmmaker Richie Mehta, is competing in the Indie Episodic section of Sundance. Based on the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, it features Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal and Adil Hussain among others. According to the festival description, the show “presents a compassionate look at law and order in a developing world.” “I realised that there are people at the front lines who deal with these crimes all the time and are really trying their best. We do not give them any credit. That is the story I wanted to tell,” Mehta told Scroll in an interview. Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hoon (Taking the Horse to Eat Jalebis), which premiered at the Jio MAMI 20th Mumbai Film Festival last year, will compete in the New Frontier section. It is the directorial debut of noted theatre artiste Anamika Haksar, and shows Delhi through the eyes of daily wage earners, domestic workers, pickpockets, factory workers and street vendors.