DU alumnus shines at Cannes Film Fest

Walking the Red Carpet at the Cannes Film Festival this time will be 26-year-old Puneet Prakash, an ex-DU student and a Delhiite, whose first film, “Mombatti”, has been selected for screening at Cannes in its Short Films Corner. “I found out on the net first.
It was only later that I received an official mail,” says an elated Puneet, who, after graduating from DU, was wondering what to do, and joined the Act One Theatre group.“This changed my life,” says he. Puneet later went to learn filmmaking at the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles. “When I was there, I edited and directed seven short films and a documentary. We shot in Universal Studios and around LA, but I always knew that I had to come back to India,” he tells us.
“Mombatti” is about a young boy, Pintu, who wants the world to honour his martyred father and ultimately, does so in his own way. “I got this idea from newspapers. After 26/11, one day, I was reading an article on page one, where rich respects were being paid to the martyrs of the attacks, and in the same paper, on page four, was a small article, “Two armymen killed by Naxals”. This made me sad, and made me think. Was their death not as important as those who were on page one? Did they not deserve that kind of respect? I chose to tell this story through the perspective and viewpoint of a child, because there usually is a freshness, an honesty in the way a child looks at things,” says Puneet.
The lead pair in “Mombatti” has Shalini Vatsa, who plays Pintu’s mother, and Chetan Pandit. “I saw the script on my mobile, and then and there SMSed back a yes,” says Chetan, “I liked working with the team. A fresh team comes with its own energy and this bunch was enthusiastic.” Puneet laughs and says, “Shalini is a good friend, and when I told her about my film, she told me to just tell her when she should report to shoot.” Puneet has earlier made TV commercials, and has assisted Anubhav Sinha on the not-so-successful “Cash”. “But all that is a thing of the past,” he says, as he readies for Cannes now. Another “Udaan” waiting to happen?