A Russian film to have theatrical release in India for the first time

A Russian film will have a theatrical release in India for the very first time, following the Indo-Russian cultural pact sealed in October

The poster of The Crew whose English dubbed version will release in India by this year-end

A Russian film will have a theatrical release in India for the very first time, following the Indo-Russian cultural pact sealed in October. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a cultural exchange programme following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the two leaders had also agreed on organising the Indian Film Festival in Moscow and Russian Film Festival in Mumbai.

The Crew, the official English dubbed version of Russian film Ekipazh, will hit Indian theatres by this year-end. Irrfan Siddiqui of RG Studios, which is officially bringing the Nikolay Lebedev-directed project to the country, said, "Last November, we organised a Russian Film Festival at Liberty Cinema where we got a chance to watch the film. In terms of production value, it is on par with Hollywood films."

Siddiqui laments the lack of Bollywood films in Russia despite the high demand among citizens there. "If you tell them you are Indian, they instantly start chatting about Raj Kapoor and Mithun Chakraborty. We are trying to import their content here and vice versa. This year, we conducted a Bollywood Film Festival in Russia, where Hindi movies were shown across 32 screens in 21 cities. The Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol-starrer Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) was part of the line-up," he said, applauding Modi's move to allow cultural exchange of this nature. "It is reassuring when the government backs novel initiatives like these."

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!