Indian Film Festival Stuttgart to premiere Lihaaf

Still from the film, Lihaaf

Marc Baschet from France and Indian filmmaker Rahat Kazmi, who made a mark in international market and film festivals through his legendary work, together made an announcement at the Cannes Film Festival 2019 that their film Lihaaf will premiere at the Indian Film Festival Stuttgart in coming July as the closing film of the festival.

The Rahat Kazmi directorial has Tannishtha Chatterjee and Sonal Sehgal in leading roles. The film is co-written by Rahat Kazmi and Sonal Sehgal. Film's producer, Namita Lal, will also be seen playing the role of Rabbo, which is another important character in the film.

A period drama, the film is based on Ismat Chughtai's most celebrated story Lihaaf (published 1942). The film weaves the plot of a same-sex relationship between a Muslim woman and her masseuse and also showcases the trial that Ismat Chughtai underwent after being slapped with a case of obscenity on publishing the story. The film raises themes of homosexuality and freedom of speech that our society is grappling with even today. The film gives a strong message where the writer did not choose to apologise but instead, fought the case and stood with her cause and perception.

The 16th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart will be held in Stuttgart (Germany) from July 17 to 21, 2019 and would present feature films, documentaries, children and animated films of any length and format. There will be jury awards for best feature, documentary and short film and an audience choice award too.

The team of Lihaaf was present at the time when this glorious announcement was being made. The dedicated and hardworking team includes producer and actress Namita Lal along with Tariq Khan and Zeba Sajid. Rahat Kazmi revealed that Lihaaf is set to release very soon, probably this year and no denying the fact, the entire team is all geared up and excited about it.

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