Bhubaneswar: ‘Capital I’, hailed as the first independent feature film of Odisha, is all set to release on September 25th. Cinemapreneur, an OTT platform dedicated to independent Indian cinema is releasing the film on its OTT platform. The OTT follows a pay-per-view model. The viewers can directly watch the film by paying for it, without having to subscribe to the platform. Cinemapreneur curates hand-picked independent films from India, offering some rare gems to the film lovers.
‘Capital I’ has been a landmark film in many ways. Critically acclaimed by critics and film enthusiasts, the film had drawn certain controversies in Odisha for the lesbian perspective. Being the first film to explore LGBTQ angles, the film was opposed by several people in Odisha at the time it was made. However, the film made its mark at around twenty international film festivals, including the likes of 20th International Film Festival of Kerala and Festival du Film d’Asie du Sud Transgressif (Paris), Bengaluru International Film Festival, amongst others. The film got very encouraging feedback from its limited theatrical screenings in Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Mumbai. It has been streaming on global platforms but is yet to release in India. After 5 years, the film will finally reach all enthusiastic film lovers.
‘Capital I’ is written, directed, shot and edited by Amartya Bhattacharyya, a national award winner who has also won over twenty international awards. The film marks the acting debut of the internationally acclaimed filmmaker Susant Misra, who has also produced the film along with Swastik Choudhury, under the banner of ‘Swastik Arthouse’. The film features young actor Pallavi Priyadarshini in the lead, along with Ipsita Mohanty, Pratyush Patra, Prateek Mohapatra, Herijit Alex and Late Sidharth Mohapatra playing key roles. The film’s much talked about music is scored by the young talent Kisaloy Roy, a trained Classical musician from Kolkata, who makes his debut as a Music composer in this film.
On the release of ‘Capital I’
Amartya Bhattacharyya (Writer, Director, Cinematographer, Editor) – ‘Capital I’ is my debut feature film, and it will always be special to me. I must thank all my cast and crew members for their tremendous efforts, and especially Susant sir (Susant Misra) who agreed not just to act in the film, but also to co-produce and present it. I feel ‘Capital I’ is one film which all film lovers must watch at least once. I won’t tell you why, but those who have watched it will know why. I’m sure ‘Capital I’ will evoke certain feelings from every passionate art lover. I can’t thank Cinemapreneur enough for bringing this parallel to parallel cinema to film lovers.
Swastik Choudhury (Producer) – “Capital I” was first broadcasted on the prestigious Filmbox Arthouse – an European channel that only catalogues arthouse films. It has also been streaming across Amazon Prime in global territories. At that time, we heard that distributors felt India is not yet ready for such a film. Am not sure the basis of such a conclusion, but am glad that Cinemapreneur is taking a bold step in bringing this film to Indian audiences. The film had ruffled a few conservative minds here five years back, where people were strongly opposing it just because the film spoke about sexual freedom, suggesting equal rights for homosexuals. It will be interesting to see how the audience reacts to this film now.
Gaurav Raturi (Co-Founder – Cinemapreneur) – At Cinemapreneur, we want to show India’s diversity, its unique stories and the new set of emerging filmmakers. We have kickstarted a movement to bring films which the most talented filmmakers have made and have been recognised globally. Capital I by Amartya is another beautiful addition to our platform. We want to bring this film to cinephiles globally and create a space for conversation, discoverability of these gems from India.
About the Film
“Capital I” is an existential psychodrama revolving around a mysterious and unknown artist and depicting the transformation of mind of a young girl whereby she finds herself trapped in between realistic relationship and attractions and a strange relationship with her hallucinatory lesbian partner.
There was an old house which was locked from inside with all windows closed, and when the police broke open the door, they found no one, neither any living person, nor a dead body. They only found a few papers lying, with some abstract phrases and pictures with the signature below reading ‘Capital I’. Police found the case unworthy of further investigations, as it doesn’t affect anyone. They close the case. But this catches the interest and curiosity of a psychology student and her old Physics professor to research about the mysterious character – ‘Capital I’. During the course of the film, the presentation breaks away from realistic continuity and ventures into the surreal sphere.
Capital I trailer link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uJtBZisCvQ
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