FAMILY and friends of the cast and crew of the much-anticipated Punjabi movie Bas Ik Vaari (which translates to ‘at least once’), along with influencers, flocked to its gala premiere at Mukta A2 Cinemas, Juffair last night.
The hour-long family film, which has English sub-titles, was written and directed by Bahrain resident Preety Praveen.
The premiere was attended by chief guest Indian Embassy second secretary (political and Press, information and culture) Ihjas Aslam along with guests of honour embassy second secretary (consular wing) Ravi Shankar Shukla, Capital Governorate director of information and follow-up Yusuf Lori and MP Hassan Bukhamas.
Dignitaries who attended the special screening included Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam president Radhakrishna Pillai, Indian Club president K M Cherian, Al Hilal Group managing director Ronnie Middleton, Indian Community Relief Fund vice-chairman Dr Babu Ramachandran and Indian Ladies Association president Sarada Ajith.
A cake-cutting ceremony was held prior to the screening which was followed by a 20-minute feedback session during which guests shared their views about the film.
The event also featured a photo booth and a poster board on which viewers could leave their remarks.
“We would love for everyone to leave a message for us, good or bad, because every word will mean something to us so that we can improve for the better in our future projects,” added Ms Praveen.
The film will also be screened today and tomorrow at 6pm and 7.30pm.
“Tickets have already been booked for those days,” added Ms Praveen.
“We are now working on putting the movie on an online streaming platform and it will be available in a few months.”
Speaking to the GDN about the project, Ms Praveen said: “We started making this movie last September, and now it’s on the silver screen.
“There are no words for how excited I am; it’s a cocktail of emotions,” added the Indian psychologist and writer who has been living in Bahrain since 2009.
She said she had written the story a couple of years ago and revisited the tale after the pandemic, to put it on the big screen.
The story revolves around a father and a daughter struggling to reconnect after complicated circumstances and misunderstandings create a rift between them.
“As the name states, we all deserve a chance to speak and vent our feelings at the right time and in front of the right people,” explained Ms Praveen.
“My whole team had been working dedicatedly to finish the project for more than nine months. Everybody involved in this project took on the tasks out of passion. They have tried their best to give their time along with their other commitments.
“I want everyone that worked on this film to achieve great things in future.
“I am very proud of all of them and am privileged to have worked with them. I’d love to work with all of them again.”
Ms Praveen’s son Pranav Nambiar, 18, flew in from India to support her and his dad Praveen, who is one of the main actors in the movie.
The cast also includes Gursahej Kaur, Anagha Kulkarni Parkhi, Asar Ziya, Jagdeep Pal Singh, Kathu Sachindev, Sandeep C Menon and RJ Kashish. The songs have been written by Ms Praveen and Karthick Raj, with music composed by Shibin P Sidiq and Ishpreet Kaur Virdi.
Presented by Prasanna Productions in association with GoAlive Media, the background music for the film has been provided by Shibin and Dreams Digital Media Bahrain and the singers include Ishpreet Kaur Virdi, Ashna Varghese and Sobin C Jose.
The director of photography is Sachan Chandran with editing by Priya Lal Achary.
mai@gdnmedia.bh
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