''Gafla'' selected for Indian Panorama at IFFI, Goa 2007

Mumbai, Oct 26 (UNI) ''Gafla'', a Sameer Hanchate film, inspired by the stock market scam of 1992, has been officially selected for the Indian Panorama of the 38th International Film Festival of India, Goa to be held from November 23 to December 3, 2007.

Only two Hindi films have made it to the Panorama with the other one being Bhavna Talwar's ''Dharam'' of the total 21 feature films, selected for the festival.

Mr Hanchante studied at the New York Film Academy and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York and later returned to assist Subhash Ghai in the making of ''Yaadein'' and Vidhu Vinod Chopra in the scripting of ''Yagna'' and ''Move 5''. In October 2006, he released ''Gafla'', his debut Hindi feature film, that was the first-of-its-kind from the Indian film industry.

The film was critically acclaimed in India and UK and was one of the top ten picks by ''The Guardian'' at the Times BFI London Film Festival, 2006. ''Gafla'' was nominated for two screen awards - Best Story and Most Promising Newcomer (Vinod Sherawat). The film also won critical acclaim for its script, performances and cinematography and was very well received in various other foreign film festivals.

''Gafla'' is a story about human ambition, a journey that goes through an inevitable conflict between human morality and economic logic.

Mr Hanchante said that he was inspired to make the film because of the enormity of the issue. ''Our stock markets are the financial barometer of our country. It is a world which affects the rich and the poor. And these affects stem from greed and panic,'' Mr Hanchate added.

He produced the film under his banner, Metropolis Multimedia Company (MMC) and shot ''Gafla'' in a 'start to finish' 40-day schedule at various locations in Mumbai.

Vinod Sherawat, Shruti Ulfat, Purva Parag are in lead roles and Shakti Singh, Brijendra Kala, Gyan Prakash, Pramathesh Mehta, Saurabh Dubey, Aditya Lakhia, Mangal Kenkre, and Sameer Hanchate amongst others with Vikram Gokhle are in a special appearance.

UNI