Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Jugnuma (The Fable) is set to release in theatres across India on September 12, roughly 10 months after its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, the makers said on Monday.
“The flicker of fireflies and a #Fable as old as time. Presenting #JUGNUMA, soaring into cinemas September 12,” production banner Flip Films wrote on Instagram alongside a poster of the film, featuring Bajpayee.
Actors Priyanka Bose, Hiral Sidhu and Awan Koot, who also star in the film, appear in the poster beside Bajpayee.
Guneet Monga and Anurag Kashyap are executive producers of Jugnuma (The Fable). The Raam Reddy-directed film revolves around the journey of Dev, played by Manoj, who tries his best to preserve trees in the Himalayas where he grew up.
Director-producer Anurag Kashyap, who previously worked with Bajpayee in Gangs of Wasseypur, praised the latter’s performance in Jugnuma (The Fable) ahead of its world premiere.
“The film is deeply humane yet magical in the way it unfolds. And at the centre of it, Manoj Bajpayee delivers a performance unlike anything we’ve seen before — restrained, enigmatic, and profoundly moving. It’s a film which I am extremely proud to present to the Indian audience,” Kashyap told US-based media portal Variety.
Guneet Monga was mesmerised by the narrative and presentation of the film. “When I first saw ‘Jugnuma,’ it felt like a mirror. It unsettled me, comforted me, and reminded me of cinema’s deepest purpose.”
Dev vows to save trees after discovering that a group is burning down trees in the region. But the serene beauty is soon ravaged by forest fires that seem to engulf the hills.
Jugnuma (The Fable) was the only Indian entry at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. “It’s about a family who looked just like us,” a voiceover opens the official trailer of the film, introducing Dev’s family against the backdrop of the Himalayas. Sporting a beard and a moustache, Bajpayee’s character narrates stories to his children.
The film also stars Tilottama Shome and Deepak Dobriyal in pivotal roles.