<i>Bas Ek Pal</i> gets good response

Monday, July 24, 2006
New Delhi (UNI): Osians' Cinefan, the film festival of Asian cinema in the capital, is turning out to be an excellent platform for talented young filmmakers to showcase their ventures reflecting sensibilities different from the so-called mainstream cinema. After giving a "thumbs Up" to many a venture from the stable of "new wave" filmmakers like Taranjit Singh (It Could Be You), Sudeshna Roy (A Tale of Three friends), Anjan Dutt (The Bong Connection) and actor-turned filmmaker Naseeruddin Shah's directorial debut Yun Hota To Kya Hota, the audiences at the ongoing eight Asian film festival last night gave an enthusiastic response to Onir's Bas Ek Pal.

A full house at the Siri Fort auditorium marked the screening of the Urmila Matondkar Sanjay Suri Juhi Chawla-starrer, which had its world premiere at the festival last night. Speaking on the occasion, director Onir, who was her along with the entire cast of the film - Jimmy Shergill, Urmila Matondkar and Sanjay Suri - said,''having my film screened at the Asian film festival is a matter of pride for me. For me the occasion is all the more special since my earlier film My Brother Nikhil, though screened at nearly 25 international film festivals, was not screened at any Indian film festival..'' Looking at the jam packed auditorium, actor Sanjay Suri said,''it is nice to see the audiences turn out in huge numbers to watch the film. I hope similar full houses are seen at the theatres when the film releases in cinema halls.'' Bas Ek Pal, the second directorial venture of Onir the first being the critically-acclaimed My Brother Nikhil, is being screened at the Asian film festival in the Indian competition category which showcases films made in the year 2005-2006 and not yet released or screened in any national and international film festival.

Talking about the film, Onir said ''It is the story of five people - Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla, Urmila Matondkar, Jimmy Shergill and Rehaan Engineer- bound inextricably by an accident that changes their lives forever. Set in metropolis of Mumbai, the film explores the complexities of modern day urban relationships. Bas Ek Pal is the journey of revelations, passions, jealousies, insecurities, love and anger as each character searches for that elusive moment of happiness.'' Expressing elation at the huge response to the film at the festival, Urmila said,''it feels good when a film made with due sincerity gets its due appreciation from the audience. The huge crowd gathered to watch the film shows that there is today definitely an audience for a sensible piece of cinema.''

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