Emraan Hashmi's film to be screened at Busan Film Festival's main competition category

Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi featured in a thriller called Harami, which was being shot before the COVID-19 lockdown. The film recently was chosen to be a part of the Busan International Film Festival 2020. It is selected as one of the 10 films from all over the world. 

'Harami' to be a part of Busan Film Festival

Harami is an Indo- American production feature film. The film is written and directed by Shyam Madiraju and features Emraan Hashmi. Harami has officially been selected to be a part of the main competition section (New Horizons) of the Busan International Film Festival 2020. It is the only Indian film to be selected for this year's main competition and happens to be one of the 10 films from 9 countries in the competition. A lot of film festivals this year were affected by COVID. Busan is the only film festival besides Venice to take place physically. It will take place from October 21 to October 30, 2020, and all the 194 films selected will be screened at the festival.

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Source: PR handout

Shyam Madiraju On Harami getting into main selection at Busan Film Festival

Shyam Madiraju is the writer and director of Harami. He said that he is elated that Harami has been invited to be a part of the Busan Film Festival’s main competition section. He added that Korea is the 'epicentre of the filmmaking universe' right now, so it’s an immense honour for him to be a part of their celebration of cinema this year.

On shooting in Mumbai

While talking about Harami he added that it is set in the 'streets and slums of Mumbai' and is a universal story of hope and redemption. He said, "The film, a labour of love, took me over two years to just scout during numerous visits to India and despite all the monumental challenges we shot live in Victoria Terminus, Bombay Central, and other trains stations, a feat not for the faint-hearted. With crews over 200 including international talent from America, UK, Denmark and South Africa, Harami was a global production set in the slums of Dharavi and crowded streets of Mohamed Ali Road".

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Casting Emraan Hashmi

He said that the most endearing and cherishing part of the entire journey of Harami was working with all the actors in the film. He mentioned that it was Emraan Hashmi playing the role of ‘Sagar Bhai’, a former English teacher turned gang lord, who is the real revelation of the film. He said the role is 'complex' and 'nuanced' and unlike anything Emraan Hashmi had done before.

He said that all his concerns disappeared when he saw how collaborative and detailed Emraan was with his preparation for the role. He shared, "We discussed in great detail over numerous reading sessions and rehearsals, the smallest elements of his character, like his gait, his diction, his style of speaking, the choice of English over Hindi, and the unique look that we created for him". The first look of the film was recently shared by Emraan Hashmi.

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Emraan Hashmi on Harami getting selected at Busan Film Festival

Emraan Hashmi said, "It was Shyam’s script that really attracted me to his project. And his obsession with details, it was very contagious. Kudos to Shyam and his Harami team for making it into the prestigious main competition section of the festival. It was a true passion project for all involved and I am looking forward to the day when we will be able to share the film with the Indian audience".

About Harami

Harami is a hard-hitting, visually striking street saga of youth crime set in the backdrop of the slums of Mumbai. It stars Emraan Hashmi, Rizwan Shaikh, Harsh Rajendra Rane, Dhanshree Patil, Diksha Nisha, Ashutosh Gaikwad, Starr Liu, Sachin Parikh, Rohan Sood and Subrat Dutta in pivotal roles.

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