Gitanjali Rao's 'Bombay Rose' gives perfect closure to DIFF

Filmmaker-actor Gitanjali Rao's allegory of Mumbai of past, Bombay Rose, on Sunday marked conclusion of 2019 Dharamshala International Film Festival here that also saw Priya Sen's Yeh Freedom Life bagging inaugural Sensitivity award.

Bombay Rose, which Rao has directed, written, edited and designed, has been frame-by-frame painted and turned into animation. story follows a flower seller who shares a brief and platonic romance with a young Kashmiri immigrant in city of dreams Mumbai. film, which Rao personally presented, received a huge applause towards end of its screening. director said she has been "gate-crashing" festival for past few editions but is w happy that her film served as closing movie.

"I felt audience was so warmed after having seen so many films that point at which applause came was a few seconds before credits rolled. That, for me, was so spontaneous, way y reacted. To be honest, ne of or screenings, that I have been to, that people gave such a reaction.

" audience here was so lovely and also re is competitiveness. Everyone is sharing so much. re is market, commerce. It's just pure art and talent coming toger. What more could you wish for," Rao told PTI. Sen's documentary, Yeh Freedom Life, was screened at PictureTime Digiplex at DIFF earlier on Sunday.

film, which director shot in Delhi's Ambedkar Nagar area, is about two women Sachi and Parveen trying to settle down with ir respective partners in a society that still looks down upon LGBTQ community. At closing ceremony, Tenzing Sonam, who organises festival each year with Ritu Sarin, said a three-member jury comprising ted critics Shubhra Gupta, Sudhir Srinivasan and Suparna Sharma picked Sen's film as winner of Sensitivity Award.

hour, for which DIFF collaborated with Film Critics Guild, was presented to Sen by actor Adil Hussain. jury found that Yeh Freedom Life breaks "stunning new ground in capturing and portraying identity, and sexuality beyond hetero rmative." During ceremony, Sarin said Hussain and Sushil Chaudhary, CEO of mobile atre company PictureTime, have offered financial support to festival for coming editions.

"I kw I had said in opening that festival almost didn't happen. So a lot of people, friends and partners of DIFF and filmmakers actually got toger and had a meeting on Saturday. Few people, including Sushil and Hussain, promised to give us a sum of money to keep us going," she said.

Sarin added that y have launched an initiative, called Friends of DIFF, where people who have attended DIFF in past can make financial contributions to festival. four-day-long film extravaganza was opened by Prateek Vats satirical dramedy "Eeb Allay Ooo!". Over course, festival screened critically-acclaimed movies and documentaries such as Jallikattu, Aise Hi, Khannaur, About Love, Inland Sea, Varda by Agnes and Pariah Dog, among ors.