Mumbai, December 20th, 2016:Interesting narratives, gripping storytelling and engaging scripts are the hallmark of SonyLIV, SPN’s digital entertainment platform catering to audiences across genres.Continuing its endeavour to stay at the forefront of offering rich and exclusive content to its viewers,the platform is now presenting the movie- Kathakaarto its audiences on December 19, 2016.The film, conceptualised by the talented students from Whistling Woods International (WWI) was also one of the semi-finalists in the Foreign Narrative Category at 43rd Annual Student Academy Awards.The film is in line with SonyLIV’s association with the film division of Whistling Woods International, which is one of the world’s leading film, communication and media arts schools and its digital venture, Connect1.
Renowned actor and lyricist Piyush Mishra plays the lead in the short film.‘Kathakaar’ is the story of Prakash, an old theatre projectionist who loses his job owing to changing technology and goes back to his native village. Depressed with this sudden loss of job, he struggles to figure out what to do with his life. After he succeeds in making a crying child laugh with his storytelling skills, he gathers his confidence, takes a chance to become a storyteller for the entire village, thereby rediscovering his passion. The narrative of Kathakaar, welcomes this new beginning in the life of Prakash.
Talking about Kathakaar, the renowned film and theatre actor, singer and lyricist Piyush Mishra said, “With Kathakaar, I went purely with my gut feeling. I reject a lot of scripts, but there was an X Factor about this one. I also had a question in mind as to how so much could be projected in such a short time span of 10 minutes. As an actor, the character I play grabbed my interest. Having said that, I had no clue that the film would be so well made, and would go on to do so well.”
The film has so far won 13 awards, including 3 international awards and has been officially selected at 26 film festivals across the globe. Amongst international honours, the film has bagged awards at renowned film festivals such as the 5th Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival, 5th Washington D.C. South Asian Film Festival, Washington D.C., II International Motivational Film Festival, Russia and 6th Jagran Film Festival, Mumbai.The filmis directed by Abhimanyu Kanodia, produced by Shraddha Singh and Naveed M, captured by Mitesh Parvatneni, edited by PaviTrehan and sound designed by Kunal Lolsure. Abhimanyu has also written and directed other successful short films,such as Jangle Bells and Queen of Hearts that were released on YouTube last year.
UdaySodhi, EVP and Head – Digital Business, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN):
“We are delighted to showcase Kathakaar exclusively on our platform. The narrative is powerfully evocative and we hope our viewers will enjoy watching it.Through our association with the film division of Whistling Woods International, we aim to present more exclusive and riveting entertainment to our viewers in the near future.”
About WWI:
Whistling Woods International (WWI) is a Film, Television, Animation, Communication, Fashion, Music and Media Arts institute located in Mumbai, India. Founded by one of India’s leading filmmakers – SubhashGhai, WWI is one of Asia’s largest Film, Communication &Media Arts institute. The Hollywood Reporter’ has rated WWI as one of the Ten Best Film Schools in the world in 2014, 2013 & 2010. The campus is located inside Mumbai’s film & television production hub ‘Filmcity’, and offers courses that vary in duration from 1 year to 3 years. All the major specialisations of the Media & Entertainment industry are catered to, including Acting, Animation, Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Producing, Music, Screenwriting, Sound, Visual Effects, Media Management Studies, Visual Communication and Fashion Design.Degree and diploma courses offered as accredited to The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
SonyLIV:
Sony LIV is the first premium Video on demand (VOD) service by Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN) providing multi-screen engagement to users on all devices. Launched in January 2013, it enables users to discover 20 years of rich content from the network channels of Sony Pictures Networks’ Pvt. Ltd. It also provides a rich array of movies, strong line-up of events across all sports, shows, music, product reviews.
With 26 million app downloads so far, LIV is the first amongst its competition to provide original exclusive premium content
As a true pioneer in its space, Sony LIV launched India’s first-ever original show exclusively for the online platform earlier this year. With #LoveBytes, it became the country’s first digital video-on-demand (VOD) platform to introduce an innovation of this nature.
Streaming the biggest football tournament of 2016 - UEFA European Championship 2016 and making SonyLIV the most preferred online destination for football fans. With 20 million hits from highly engaged urban sports millennials and 90 million interactions.
About Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN):
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), (formerly Multi Screen Media Private Ltd.), is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation which owns and operates the Sony Entertainment network of television channels.
As a leading television network in India, SPN comprises of Sony Entertainment Television (SET), one of India's leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India's premium Hindi movies and special events channel; MAX 2, a second Hindi movie channel showcasing great Indian Cinema; SAB, a family comedy entertainment channel; PIX, the English movie channel; AXN, the leader amongst English Entertainment Channels; AATH, the Bangla movie channel, MIX a refreshing Hindi music channel; SIX and SONY ESPN – the cluster of sports entertainment channels and LIV - the Digital Entertainment Channel, and, SPN’s Motion Pictures division, formerly MSM Motion Pictures.
Sony Pictures Networks India is in its 21st year in India.