The tagline of Photograph reads: Two lives intersect in Mumbai and go along together. The tagline if fitting indeed for this Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra starrer Photograph. The film is about a struggling street photographer Rafi(Nawazuddin) in Mumbai, who is being pressured by his grandmother to get married. He meets a random girl Miloni(Sanya) and asks her to pose as his fiancée. Over time Miloni and Rafi develop a connection that changes their life.
The film which also stars Abdul Qadir Amin and Denzil Smith is directed by Ritesh Batra who has earlier directed Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur in The Lunchbox and directed the 2017 film Our Souls at Night that stars Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Judy Greer.
Photograph had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival will be held at Park City, Utah in the US from 24 January to 3 February 2019.The film was amongst the 112 selected movies that were screened there.Sanya started shooting for Photograph right after Dangal, so the film was actually her second film.
Speaking to Hot Friday Talks at the trailer launch in Mumbai, Sanya said that since this was her second release after Dangal she was very nervous. “People told me that second film has to be good because the audience will have a lot of expectations from you after your successful debut, so I was kind of nervous and kept my fingers crossed. But the response at Berlin and Sundance have been great and I am hoping people will like it too.”
Ritesh, whose earlier film Our Souls At Night happens to be one of my favorites also spoke to Hot Friday Talks and said that he is hopeful the Indian audience will like the film as much as it has been appreciated at the festivals. Photograph, like Lunchbox and Our Souls At Night too looks like a subtle and real film. The plot seems very interesting too. When I asked Ritesh how he comes up with such brilliant ideas and turns a simple story into an interesting relatable film, he smiles and says, “It’s the ordinary everyday life that fascinates me and the ideas just come from observing people and life.”
The trailer reveals that Sanya plays a young Gujarati girl, who has just completed her CA and is about to intern in the same.From what I could gather in the trailer is that she plays a quiet girl who likes to keep to herself, an introvert. When I mention this to Sanya she says that it is absolutely true that she plays a girl who doesn’t talk much and likes to be on her own and keeps her feelings to herself.
Photograph, like Lunchbox, has mostly been shot in real locations.The trailer makes you want to know more about the characters and what is to come. But we have to wait till 27 January to know more about the film!
