Naseeruddin Shah’s ‘Rehmat’ to compete at Locarno film festival

"Rehmat" is also among 13 films nominated for the festival's "Pardo for Change" award, which recognises works engaging with environmental, ethical, social and cultural issues

New Delhi: National Award-winning filmmaker Gurvinder Singh’s latest feature “Rehmat” has been selected for the main competition at the 79th Locarno International Film Festival, becoming the only Indian film in contention at the Swiss event this year.

At the film gala, which will be held from August 5 to 15, the movie will compete in the Concorso Internazionale section for the top honour — the Pardo d’Oro (Golden Leopard).

“Rehmat” is also among 13 films nominated for the festival’s “Pardo for Change” award, which recognises works engaging with environmental, ethical, social and cultural issues.

Starring Naseeruddin Shah, Suvinder Vicky, Mita Vashisht and Navjot Randhawa, the movie is based on short stories by veteran Punjabi writer Ajeet Cour.

It tells three interconnected stories set in present-day Punjab. The narrative follows a woman who secretly shelters a wounded stranger, his family grappling with grief and difficult choices, and the arrival of a mysterious elderly man in a village claiming to be God.

Singh said the selection reaffirmed his belief in a cinema that prioritises reflection over spectacle.

“The selection at Locarno reaffirms my faith that a certain kind of cinema still has relevance in this largely market-driven world with shrinking attention spans. Cinema as a reflective and conflicting space where meaning takes shape not in an arousing outer layer, but quietly peeling away into the innards of time and tragedy, between continuity and change,” the filmmaker said in a statement.

The cast also includes newcomers Diya Kamboj, Harwinder Aujla and Jaswant Zafar. The film is jointly produced by Ajeet Cour and her daughter, artist Arpana Caur.

An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Singh made his feature debut with “Anhey Ghorhey Da Daan”, which premiered in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival in 2011 and won three National Film Awards.

His second feature, “Chauthi Koot”, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015 and won the National Award for Best Punjabi Film. His later works include “Bitter Chestnut”, “Adh Chanani Raat” and the documentary “Trolley Times”.