Konkani film ‘Ram’ bags top awards at Pune Film Fest

MARGAO: ‘Ram’, a Konkani short film directed by a Goan, Miransha Naik, bagged two awards at the 4th annual Pune Short Film Festival held on December 17.
“Ram was awarded the Best Film & Best Director awards and was also selected at the Filmmakers of World Cinema Festival, London; IMA Documentary Short Film Festival, Kerala and 9180 Short Film Festival 2014, Bengaluru,” said executive producer Vinit Chandrashekar of Thin Air Productions.
“Ram is Naik’s second film after ‘Xexari’ (neighbour) and was shot soon after the Delhi gangrape. ‘Ram’ tells tale of a 14-year-old who is desperate to lose his virginity and his struggle. Ram is also about victimization and a comment on society’s staunch denial of such instances,” said Chandrashekar.
Chandrashekar added, “Having received tremendous support and global recognition for the big budget short film ‘Ram’, we are now commencing a big budget Konkani feature film ‘Juje’ that we will commence shooting in March 2015. Besides, the same team that worked on ‘Ram’, ‘Juje’ will have an all-Goan cast and will have experienced Bollywood artistes like Anjum Rajabali and Ashwini Mallick associated with the project.”
“Juje is about a child protagonist who overcomes his own fear and liberates the village that he lives in. It is about a David and Golliath battle and how a small child in a village of Goa embarks upon a coming-of-age journey,” says Chandrashekar.