Raam Reddy’s directorial debut, Thithi is all set to make its Asian Premiere at Mumbai Film Festival, 2015.

Thithi, the Kannada language film which premièred at Locarno International Film Festival early this year and won two top awards – Pardo d’oro Cineasti Del Presente Premio Nescens” (Golden Leopard, Filmmakers of the Present Competition) and “Swatch First Feature Award” for the best debut feature in the festival – is the only Indian feature to be selected in the International Category at MAMI.

Excited about the upcoming Asian Premiere at MAMI, Raam says, “It is very humbling to be the only Indian film, out of 30 or so Indian features at the festival this year, to be in the International Competition section. It is especially exciting considering a film as incredible as Court was the only film in the same competition last year and is now India’s Oscar Entry.”

Thithi’s reputation has steadily grown ever since winning the Fiction Work-in-Progress Lab in NFDC Film Bazaar 2014. After the Locarno wins, the 26-year-old director was felicitated by Karnataka’s Honorable Chief Minister Sri Siddaramaiah.

Thithi Still 1

Thithi

In addition to it’s critical accolades, Thithi has backing of a renowned international producer from the USA, Sunmin Park of Maxmedia, Los Angeles. She, along with Tom Cruise, produced The Others starring Nicole Kidman directed by Alejandro Amenabar, A Night in Old Mexico starring Robert Duvall, as well as other internationally acclaimed titles such as Mushi-shi directed by Katsuhiro Otomo and The Emperor And The Assassins starring Gong Li directed by Chen Kaige, amongst others.

Speaking of Thithi’s journey so far, Raam adds, “Seeing a sort of universality and unique filmmaking voice in Thithi, Sunmin Park – the producer who was instrumental in introducing a director who I have immense admiration for, Alejandro Amenabar, onto the world stage through films like the “The Others” starring Nicole Kidman and “Vanilla Sky” starring Tom Cruise (which was a remake of Amenabar’s Spanish film) – came on board our kannada indie as a producer. Thithi then went on to have a dream reception at the world premiere at Locarno, and now MAMI will hopefully be the next defining step in Thithi’s journey; one that seems to be taking the film towards theatrical releases both across India and around the world.”

Brief Film Synopsis:

After the death of Century Gowda, a highly cranky 101 year old man, the film follows the humorous exploits of his elderly bearded son, Gadappa, his materialistic middle-aged grandson, Thamanna, and his confident pubescent great grandson, Abhi, up until Century Gowda’s “thithi”, the final funeral celebration 11 days after a death.

Shot in the Mandya district of Karnataka, Thithi is a dramatic comedy co-written by Eregowda, who spent most of his childhood in the very village that the film was shot. Furthermore, Thithi entirely comprises a cast of non-professional actors who are mostly farmers from the area, lending an unparalleled authenticity and unique breed of insider humour to the film. In addition, the young crew comprises collaborators from Holland, USA, as well as FTII graduates and many locals from the village.

Raam Reddy Portrait Plain

Raam Reddy

About the Director:

Raam Reddy, 26, is a graduate of Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and Prague Film School. Previously, he has directed a critically-acclaimed short film called Ika (Feather), and published a magic-realism novel titled It’s Raining in Maya.