Vidya Balan’s upcoming movie ‘Begum Jaan’ to be screened across 900 screens in India

 

8^th March 2017; Mumbai: Ahead of Women’s Day, NH Studioz, an initiative of Narendra Hirawat and Co announced acquiring the theatrical distribution rights for Vidya Balan’s upcoming movie Begum Jaan. Narendra Hirawat and Co is a pioneer in releasing and distribution of Bollywood movies for decades. Begum Jaan is scheduled for release on 14^th April and is an action-drama directed by Sriijt Mukherji where Vidya Balan plays the role of a brothel’s madam in the late independence period of 1947. The movie is an adaptation of critically acclaimed Bengali movie Rajkahini (Tale of the kings) which was also directed by Srijit Mukherji and released in June 2015.

“The mindset of the Indian audience has changed over the past few years. People are now more open to applaud stories with female leads as the central character in the film. We truly believe in movies with such gripping stories with female leads in the foreground and also understand the audiences that the movie caters to. It is about identifying the right audience for a particular movie and taking strategic steps in releasing the film. In the recent past, we have successfully distributed women centric movies like Pink and Dear Zindagi. Taking the content of the movie to the right audience is crucial as it plays a very essential role in the overall business of a movie”, said Mr. Shreyans Hirawat, Managing Director of NH Studioz.

The original movie Rajkahani is set in the grim history of partition around a border between the two nations that runs through a brothel housing eleven women. The movie follows the erection of the Radcliff line as the boundary between the newly formed nations of India and Pakistan. The brothel run by Begum Jaan is situated right between the districts of Debiganj and Haldibari with the former being placed in East Pakistan and the latter remaining a part of India. The partition line runs right through the middle of Begum Jaan’s brothel. Eventually, Begum Jaan is asked to evacuate the place with her women but she refuses. What follows is the dark political situation of the era and the innumerable attempts made to evict Begum Jaan from the brothel. The women of the brothel put up a brave fight against the system to save their home which means the world to them. “We found the storyline of the movie very enthralling and with Vidya Balan playing the lead, this will be one of the finest movie this year. We are planning the release of the movie in theatres very carefully and the film will be screened across 900 screens in India”, adds Mr. Hirawat.