Drishyam Films organises screenings of rare Indian films

Kickstarting this intiative called THE MASTERS will be Sriram Raghavan's Raman Raghav

Drishyam Films, the film studio that is turning out to be the go-to place for quintessentially alternative Hindi cinema, has come up with a monthly series of curated screenings and conversations with master filmmakers. Under this initiative called THE MASTERS rare films that are not easily available nor accessible to the general movie-going public will be showcased. 

The first film to be screened, Raman Raghav, is Bollywood master Sriram Raghavan's first film after graduating from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. The lone screening of the film was at the Mumbai (then Bombay) International Film festival in 1992. The Masters will be its first public outing since then. 

The event will take place on October 21, 2015, 8 pm at PVR Andheri, Citimall, Mumbai.

The film, at its first-ever public screening, will be introduced by filmmaker Atul Sabharwal, director (Aurangzeb, In Their Shoes), who will also be the moderator of the Q and A to be followed with the director.

What distinguishes THE MASTERS from other film clubs is the fact that screenings will take place at state-of the-art multiplexes and all the films will be projected using 2K technology instead of DVD screeners that’s the norm at such events. 

Raman Raghav is a two-part series made by Raghavan in 1991. It is based on the successful investigations of the Stoneman murders that took place in the 1960s, and draws from official police case files with Raghubir Yadav in the eponymous role of a serial killer who killed 42 people in the 60s in Mumbai.

Raghavan said: "This was my first film after passing out of the Film and Television Institute of India. I was under the influence of two films whilst making this -- Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man, and Wim Wenders' The Goalie's Fear of the Penalty. Raman Raghav is very close to my heart, as it was a stepping stone to my debut feature, Ek Hasina Thi. It's wonderful to know that so many people are coming for the screening, and I'm really looking forward to it."

Shiladitya Bora, CEO, Drishyam Films, said: "This is a one-of-a-kind initiative by Drishyam Films to reinvent the way master filmmakers interact with their audiences. We are in the process of finalising some big and interesting names for our upcoming screenings. We plan to invite stalwarts from the industry to share their lesser-known films as well as their exhaustive world of knowledge with our amazing audiences. “

The event is free and open to all, based on a first-come-first serve basis. Registrations can be made at http://www.drishyamfilms.com/events.