Ronnie Screwvala provides platform to seven new directors

Film producer Ronnie Screwvala is set to launch seven new directors through his banner RSVP, and he promises some "new trends" will emerge with the projects.

"I am thrilled that in our first outing with RSVP, we have female directors with us. More power to that," Screwvala told IANS.

"What is exciting me about coming back to movie creation after five years is that the narrative our audiences are looking for has changed and the last time I experienced this was in 2006 when we premiered 'Rang De Basanti' -- which was a landmark movie and story at that time. I see new trends emerging in a similar way," added Screwvala, who earlier used to head UTV.

The slate of films under RSVP is diverse.

Anand Tiwari, who has vast experience in the world of films, advertising and theatre, will make his directorial debut with "Love Per Square Foot", starring Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar. It premieres on Valentine's Day across 190 countries on Netflix.

Akarsh Khurana, who has been a part of theatre for over 15 years and has also written screenplays for filmmakers Anurag Basu and Rakesh Roshan, will make his directorial debut with "Karwaan", starring Irrfan Khan, which releases in theatres worldwide on June 1.

After working as an assistant director with Ayan Mukerji, Milan Luthria, Mohit Suri and others, Sneha Taurani -- daughter of Tips Music Founder Ramesh Taurani -- will be debuting as a director with "Dance Franchise" -- the first of which will be a bhangra film written by Punjabi writer Dheeraj Rattan.

Aditya Dhar has been an assistant to filmmakers Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rohan Sippy, Priyadarshan and Vishal Bhardwaj. He has written the story, screenplay and dialogues for the National Award-winning short film "Boond". "URI", about a landmark moment in India's military history, starring Vicky Kaushal, will be his debut film.

Vandana Kataria won an award as production designer for "Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!", participated in the Berinale Talent Campus 2016, and is currently working on Zoya Akhtar's "Gully Boy". "Tara Ki Shaadi", a heart-warming but brutally honest tale set around a wedding, will be her first feature film as a writer and director.

Amit Joshi, who wrote the highly acclaimed film "Trapped", now makes his directorial debut at RSVP with a comic-adventure caper about two friends on a crazy ride.

Vasan Bala, an award-winning ad filmmaker who assisted Anurag Kashyap for a decade, was an associate on Michael Winterbottom's "Trishna" and co-wrote "The Lunchbox", now directs "Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota". His first film "Peddlers" (2012) competed at the Cannes Film Festival.

"We want RSVP to stand for three kinds of storytelling. Stories that must be told, stories that we would love to tell, and stories that everyone goes to the movies for. Along with some other exceptional talent, we are very proud to associate with some promising debutant directors and writers who see the narrative as we do," the entrepreneur said.

In addition to the debutants, RSVP also has popular directors -- Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap and Karan Johar -- making "four short stories on love and lust", and more.

--IANS

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