The red-carpet gala premiere of the first Nepali-Hindi language feature film ‘Broken Wings’ is set to premiere at Vajra Cinema Hall, Gangtok on April 29. A directorial debut of Vancouver-Darjeeling based filmmaker Shenpenn Khymsar, the film is produced under the banner of Monk and The Warrior Productions.
The film is scheduled to be released simultaneously on theatres across India on April 29. The film will be released in Nepal next month and is scheduled to be released in OTT by October.
The gala premiere in Gangtok will be attended by VIPs from Sikkim, people from the Bollywood industry, cast and crew of Broken Wings and influencers from the region.
The cast comprises of a mix of more than 120 people ranging from Bollywood to locals. Veteran Bollywood actor Vinay Pathak is accompanied by amateurs and debutants Endo, Sunakshi Grover, Shubhdeep Raha, Neetu Panday, Reuben Pradhan, Nima Sherpa, Mingma Lhamo Tamang and Bhavya Sharma. The film also has award-winning Bollywood editor Aseem Sinha and director Sushil Rajpal. The music is composed by Shenpenn himself. The musicians involved in the film are all from the hills.
The trailer, which was released recently gives a jist on what the film is all about. Inspired by true incidents, the story is set from 1988-1992, against the backdrop of the Gorkhaland agitation. The film is based on true events.
“It took almost three years for the film to be released due to the Covid pandemic. I have tried to give my best effort in making the film, and it my love letter to the Nepali-speaking population of the country, so it is my humble request to everyone to come and watch ‘Broken Wings’. I have tried to represent the Gorkhas and Indian Nepalis in a creative and intelligent way and has not limited to stereotype the Gorkhas based on ‘Khukris’. We are much more than that and we have so many talented people in evert field,” expressed filmmaker Shenpenn Khymsar.
Sikkim, the neighboring hills of Darjeeling and every Nepali-speaking population is equally part of India and it is time to tell our stories via. the Indian Film industry. It is a proud moment for us as Broken Wings is the first bilingual Bollywood film in the history of Indian Cinema, which is one of the oldest and the largest industry in the world. The film has been approved by the film censor board and is officially under the Nepali language category, he added.
The filmmaker expressed that the gala premiere is being held in Gangtok as Vajra Cinema Hall is a brand-new theatre with 70 mm screen, which is very few in India. “Sikkim has its own Film Promotion Board and is coming up with a film city. Film tourism will bloom is Sikkim and by holding the gala premiere here, I want to uplift the people here through Broken Wings, because Sikkim is close to my heart,” said Khymsar.
The tickets of the gala premiere are available at MG Marg, Vajra Cinema Hall, Gangtok Groove and few other venues. Anyone interested can also contact the production house via. their social media platforms.
Regarding the recent controversy where a retired Bengal police officer, Kundan Lal Tamta, asked the makers of a Nepali-Hindi bilingual film, Broken Wings, to remove the reference of a police officer named Tamta from the movie for being a “mala fide denigration” of his personality and service, Khymsar stated that the officer has threatened to take legal action, but the filmmaker is adamant to keep the character as is.
Shenpenn hopes on motivating the younger generation. People from this side are very talented. Musicians should aim for the for Bombay and not Nepal, he added.
A Monk and the Warrior Productions was established in Shenpenn in 2008. His first film was ‘Journey of a Dream’ (2011), the first Tibetan documentary of heavy metal and Buddhism that went all over the world. In that film too he had tried to highlight Darjeeling and its talent. The document won many awards all over the world. The production house has recently set up their office in Siliguri.