Tumbbad | |
---|---|
Directed by | Rahi Anil Barve |
Screenplay by | Rahi Anil Barve |
Story by | Narayan Dharap |
Produced by | Sohum Shah Aanand L. Rai Anand Gandhi [1] Mukesh Shah Amita Shah |
Starring | Sohum Shah |
Cinematography | Pankaj Kumar |
Edited by | Sanyukta Kaza |
Music by | Song: Ajay–Atul Score: Jesper Kyd |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Eros International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 113 minutes |
Country | India |
Budget | ₹5–15 crore [lower-alpha 1] |
Box office | ₹15.46 crore (initial run) [4] ₹18.98 crore (re-release) [6] |
Tumbbad is a 2018 Hindi-language folk horror film directed by Rahi Anil Barve. [7] Additionally, Anand Gandhi served as the creative director, [8] and Adesh Prasad served as the co-director. [8] Written by Mitesh Shah, Prasad, Barve, and Gandhi, [7] the film was produced by Sohum Shah, Aanand L. Rai, Mukesh Shah and Amita Shah. Starring Sohum Shah in the lead role as Vinayak Rao, it follows the story of his search for a hidden 20th century treasure in the Indian village of Tumbbad, Maharashtra.
The director, Rahi Anil Barve, began writing the script based on a story a friend had told him about in 1993, by the Marathi writer Narayan Dharap. He wrote the first draft in 1997, when he was 18 years old. From 2009 to 2010, he created a 700-page storyboard for the film. It was optioned by seven production companies who backed out and went on the floors (went into production) three times. It was first shot in 2012 but after editing, Barve and Shah were not satisfied. The film was then re-written and re-shot with filming completed in May 2015. Pankaj Kumar served as the director of photography while Sanyukta Kaza was its editor. Jesper Kyd composed the original score while Ajay–Atul composed one song.
Tumbbad premiered in the critics' week section of the 75th Venice International Film Festival—the first Indian film to be screened there. It was also screened at the 2018 Fantastic Fest, Sitges Film Festival, the Scream fest Horror Film Festival, the El Gouna Film Festival, 23rd International Film Festival of Kerala, Morbido Film Fest, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival and Nitte International Film Festival.
Tumbbad was released theatrically on 12 October 2018 to critical acclaim with critics praising the story, the production design, & the cinematography. Made on a production budget of ₹50 million (US$600,000)–₹150 million (US$1.8 million), the film grossed a total of ₹154 million (US$1.8 million) at the box office, making it a profitable venture. It received eight nominations at the 64th Filmfare Awards winning three for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Sound Design. Over the time, it has gained a cult following, considered one of the finest film of Hindi cinema. [9]
Vinayak Rao tells his son Pandurang about the Goddess of Prosperity, the symbol of endless gold and grain, and the mother of all the Gods. Her first offspring Hastar, full of greed, acquired all her gold, but the other Gods destroyed him when he went for the grain. The Goddess saved his life by sheltering him in her womb, on the condition that he would be forgotten. However, the residents of Tumbbad built a temple for Hastar's worship, provoking the Gods who cursed the village with incessant rain.
In 1918, Vinayak’s mother is the mistress of the local lord Sarkar and hopes to get a share of his mysterious treasure. Vinayak and his brother Sadashiv stay home with a monstrous old woman chained in a separate room. When Sadashiv is injured after falling from a tree, their mother takes him away to get help. Vinayak then tries to feed the woman, who escapes and tries to eat him instead. He invokes the name of Hastar, making her fall into a slumber. Sarkar and Sadashiv both die, and Vinayak and his mother leave for Pune.
Fifteen years later, Vinayak returns to Tumbbad, desperate to escape a life of poverty. The old woman still lives, with a tree growing out of her body, and offers to tell him the secret of Sarkar’s treasure if he ends her suffering. She leads him to the Goddess’ womb, located inside Sarkar's mansion, and teaches him to retrieve the treasure. Inside the womb, Hastar dwells, hungry for eons as he was denied the Goddess’ grain. Vinayak descends into the womb with a rope and draws a circle of flour to protect himself. He then lures Hastar with a flour dough doll, and when he is distracted, Vinayak steals gold coins from Hastar’s loincloth and quickly flees the womb. Vinayak then burns the woman, and keeps traveling from Pune to Tumbbad to retrieve more coins, selling them to his friend and moneylender Raghav, who wonders about the source of Vinayak’s newfound wealth. He follows Vinayak to Tumbbad, who tricks him into entering the Goddess' womb with a dough doll. Hastar attacks Raghav, and Vinayak burns him to end his suffering.
In 1947, Vinayak is consumed by greed and decadence, and faces a deteriorating family life. He trains his son Pandurang in retrieving Hastar’s coins and takes him to Tumbbad, warning him not to bring a dough doll for the practice. Pandurang brings it anyway, prompting Hastar to attack them, but they both narrowly manage to escape. Vinayak later learns that Sarkar's mansion was appropriated by the newly formed government of independent India. Hoping to secure as much gold as possible before they lose the mansion, Pandurang suggests stealing Hastar’s entire loincloth by luring him with multiple dough dolls. However, the plan fails when Hastar multiplies into many clones inside the womb, trapping them. As a last resort, Vinayak ties the dolls around him and faces the attack of Hastar and his clones, allowing Pandurang to escape. Once outside the womb, Pandurang encounters Vinayak, now cursed, who offers him Hastar’s loincloth. Pandurang refuses, and after putting him to sleep by invoking Hastar’s name, burns him and leaves Tumbbad, thus ending the cycle of greed.
Director Rahi Anil Barve said the title is derived from Shripad Narayan Pendse's Marathi novel Tumbadche Khot. [11] He wrote the first draft in 1997, when he was 18 years old. From 2009 to 2010, he created a 700-page storyboard within eight months, which he said was the "anchor on which everything was based." [12] Barve wrote the script based on a story his friend had told when they were in the Nagzira wildlife sanctuary in 1993 "which made him crap his pants." [13] It was a story by Marathi writer Narayan Dharap. Years later, when he revisited Dharap's story, he found it "utterly bland, mundane and forgettable." [13] He realised "it was my friend's narration... that left an indelible print- no, scar on my psyche" which "kept the story alive." [13] Barve took the story's basic premise about a scheming moneylender and another of his works, about a girl left alone with her grandmother who is possessed by a demon, and began writing a screenplay. [14] He managed to find a producer, but they backed out in 2008. He obtained financing and principal photography began in the monsoon of 2012. [11]
Sohum Shah was cast in the role of Vinayak Rao, for which he gained eight kilograms (eighteen pounds). [15] Since the production took six years, he maintained his character's look for the entire period. [16] Shah said that he was surprised after hearing the story for the time because he "hadn't seen anything like this in Indian cinema." [17] He found it similar to Vikram Baital and Panchatantra . [18] Barve said the story's main theme was greed, and that the first half hour of the film is in the "universe of Dharap's stories." [19] The film shows Hastar who, according to mythology stated in the movie, was banished to the womb of the mother goddess for being greedy for food and gold. [19] The film is divided in three chapters which Barve said was also a metaphor for the "journey of India, as we see it today." [19] It had gone on the floor three times and was optioned by seven production companies who backed out. Barve feels this was because he had "no frame of reference for them, nothing like Tumbbad had even been tried before." [19] Shah worked on his Marathi diction and accent since the character of Vinayak was a Maharashtrian. [20] Anand Gandhi served as the co-writer, creative director and executive producer. [21] Barve's initial idea was to tell three different stories of Tumbbad village in the film; Gandhi and Mitesh turned it into one person's story. [22] The myth of Hastar was the last addition to the story to serve as a backstory. [22] The screenplay was written by Barve, Prasad, Gandhi and Mitesh Shah. [23]
Tumbbad first went into production in 2008 with Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role but was quickly shelved as the producer backed out. [14] It was then shot in 2012 after Shah and Gandhi came on board. The film has minimal dialogue and was shot with constant physical movement with few cuts. [11] Barve said, "we shot in the rain at age-old locations, where no human had ventured for at least a hundred years. For me, Tumbbad's locations, the feel of its stuffy air, and the lonely rainy atmosphere that defies the feeling of time's passage is as central as its characters." [11] After the editing, Barve and Shah realised the film was "not able to achieve what it set out to do." [24] It was then re-written and re-shot and the filming completed in May 2015. [24] [25] The Mutha River in the Onkareshwar area was taken as a reference for the set creation. In three weeks, the set of the small town around the temple was recreated. [26] A doppelganger set of an old Pune city was created for the film. Sohum Shah wore the typical attire worn by Konkanasth Brahmans in Maharashtra. [27] It was shot in natural light. [12] Some scenes were also shot in Mahabaleshwar and the Tumbbad village. [14] [28] The visual effects were produced by Sean Wheelan's team at Filmgate Films, who were also the co-producers. [24] Pankaj Kumar served as the director of photography and Sanyukta Kaza edited the film. [29] Kumar had shot Barve's short film Manjha in 2006 and learned of Tumbbad's story from Barve. [30]
Barve created a story book for reference. Kumar called the filming process "long, strong and intense." [30] It was decided the film's look would be "moody and gloomy"; the village had to look timeless "without a clear demarcation between day and night." [30] The shooting was done without any sunlight on Red Camera in digital format. Kumar said that the film's entire shooting schedule revolved around lighting, noting the constant rain and grey tone gave a "constant sense of gloom and dread." [31] He wanted the film to be shot only during the monsoon with its constant rain as he wanted a feeling of "wetness at all times": "We wanted the audience to feel drenched when they came out of the theatres." [30] However, due to a shortage of rainfall that year, Kumar did not get sufficient rain. The crew used artificial rain for the scenes and had to wait for hours for cloud cover. [30] Tumbbad was shot in several locations across Maharashtra including Saswad and villages of the Satara district. Some scenes were shot on constructed sets in Mumbai, including the womb sequence. Kumar said that the team did extensive recce for a few years as they were looking for "large landscapes without modern infringements, without towers and structures." [30] They also did not have the budget for the visual effects to erase the contemporary architectural elements. [30]
The film had four colour schemes including blue, cold grey, red and gold. 50 lanterns and lamps were used for several scenes to avoid modern-day lighting techniques since it was a period film. [30] The scenes inside the womb took 15 to 20 days to shoot without any visual effects. The character of Hastar was created with heavy prosthetic makeup by prosthetics makeup artist Gurpreet Singh Dhuri and that required six to seven hours to prepare. [32] [30] [33] Shah wore contact lenses throughout the film for the grey eyes. The entire film was shot over 100 to 120 days with four shooting schedules in 2012 and 2015. After the shoot, the team felt that the film was "halfway there" to becoming something that "audiences hadn't seen before." After that the script went through re-writing, some scenes were added, and the story was "enhanced". The sets were rebuilt and the womb was added. [30] The film's production designers were Nitin Zihani Choudhary and Rakesh Yadav. For their research, they used photograph's from the 18th and 19th century during the British Raj. [34] The interiors of the cave were shot at the Purandare Wada near Pune. [34] It was made to look old and "consumed by earth"; [35] the crew spread moss all over the site. An entire market was created at Satara that included several shops, but it was not used very often in the film. [34]
The film's post-production took two-and-a-half years to complete. [36] Kaza had asked Prasad to write the dialogues again after she re-arranged the grandmother's tree scene while editing it. She used the "only usable stable shots and put them in a certain order and then called Adesh and asked him to re-write the dialogues according to the edit." [37] Its initial runtime was close to 200 minutes which was edited to 100 minutes. [38] The film's climax inside the womb was shot with only one source of light—an oil lamp. [31] The film was produced by Film i Väst and Filmgate Films along with Eros International and Aanand L. Rai's Colour Yellow Productions. [39] [40]
Tumbbad's title track was composed, arranged and produced by Ajay–Atul; it was sung in Hindi with lyrics written by Raj Shekhar. It was released on 6 October 2018. [41] The original score was composed by Jesper Kyd. Prasad was sampling music pieces from several composers when he heard the soundtrack "Apocalypse" from the 2006 video game Hitman: Blood Money composed by Kyd and decided to work with him. [42] Kyd felt the Tumbbad team wanted the soundtrack to be between a western and an Indian sound. [42]
Prasad sent Kyd a sample of Laxmikant–Pyarelal's track from Ram Lakhan (1989) for reference; Kyd also watched videos of street drummers and The Sinful Dwarf (1973). [42] [43] Kyd recorded the choir with Bulgarian music called "Descending" which was the first track he wrote for the film. [42] Both Prasad and Kyd used to interact with each other through Skype. [42] The score involved live recording with cello and violin as well as the real sound of crickets. [43] Kyd made three different types of sound for the film's three parts. [43] The album consists of 22 tracks and was released on 10 November 2018. [44]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Birth of Hastar" | 3:12 |
2. | "Rains of Tumbbad" | 2:16 |
3. | "Grandmother's Meal" | 1:53 |
4. | "Secrets" | 2:30 |
5. | "Feeding the Witch" | 3:50 |
6. | "Opportunities" | 2:03 |
7. | "The Greed Manifests" | 2:47 |
8. | "Descending" | 2:54 |
9. | "The Wife" | 1:06 |
10. | "The Box is Opened" | 1:25 |
11. | "Hastar" | 4:32 |
12. | "Happy Ever After" | 2:30 |
13. | "Telefon" | 1:02 |
14. | "Driving in the Rain" | 1:51 |
15. | "The Initiation" | 2:16 |
16. | "Chocolate Coins" | 1:32 |
17. | "The Mistress" | 0:35 |
18. | "Vinayak's Treasure Box" | 1:30 |
19. | "Family Business" | 3:05 |
20. | "The Showdown" | 3:17 |
21. | "The Final Choice" | 1:56 |
22. | "The Goddess" | 3:10 |
Total length: | 51:00 |
Tumbbad premiered in the critics' week section of the 75th Venice International Film Festival, becoming the first Indian film to be screened there. [45] It was also screened at: the 2018 Fantastic Fest, [46] Sitges Film Festival, the Screamfest Horror Film Festival, [47] the El Gouna Film Festival, [48] 23rd International Film Festival of Kerala, [49] Morbido Film Fest, [50] Brooklyn Horror Film Festival [51] and Nitte International Film Festival. [52] Before the film's release, a special screening was held by Aanand L. Rai which was attended by the film's team and several other filmmakers. [53] Tumbbad was released in India on 12 October 2018 on 575 screens. [54] It is also available on Amazon Prime Video in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu language. [55]
Tumbbad opened to mostly positive critical reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 86% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.67/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Tumbbad has everything you never knew you needed in a cliché horror romp that is very pleasing to the eye." [56] Rachit Gupta of The Times of India called the film "moody and atmospheric" and said that fans of Hollywood horror films will be reminded of Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and Eraserhead (1977). [57] Baradwaj Rangan wrote: "It’s been a while since something genre-based turned out so rich and mysterious, so defiantly its own thing." [58] Raja Sen called the film "an ambitious one, artistic and attentively made, reminding me of the trippy stylings of filmmaker Tarsem Singh." [59] The Indian Express 's Shubhra Gupta called it "highly unusual, visually stunning, richly atmospheric concoction of genres and themes." [60]
Sanjukta Sharma of Scroll.in felt the film subverts genres "astutely, without any gimmicks": "It has been a while since a horror film spoke so eloquently about something as primal as greed and remained true to its Indian setting." [61] Mint 's Udita Jhunjhunwala cited the film as "eerie, imaginatively designed, stunningly filmed and well directed." [62] Anupama Chopra felt the film was nothing like "you have seen before in Hindi cinema", calling it "the most visually stunning film I've seen since Padmaavat ". [63] Subhash K. Jha praised the visuals and wrote: "If you think cinema is predominantly a visual medium then don't miss Tumbbad". [64] Rediff.com's Sreehari Nair observed that "our apprehensions are raised lazily and we wait like masochists for the manipulations to arrive, but what we get instead is a single-line moral." [65] Namrata Joshi gave a positive review and wrote: "The atmosphere, landscape, and themes in Tumbbad are accentuated by a sense of Gothic dread and an eerie expectancy of the diabolical." [66]
Suparna Sharma of the Deccan Chronicle noted that the film has "the beauty and horror of imagination, and it stalks you gently, long after you’ve left the theatre." [67] Reuters' Shilpa Jamkhandikar said that the "true star here is Barve, who takes what could have been a regular horror film and elevates it to another level." [68] Stutee Ghosh of The Quint wrote: "It excels is in its ability to weave together a formidable canvas with fear, fantasy and folklore blending in seamlessly to give us an unrelenting ominous journey." [69] Anna M. M. Vetticad wrote: "The joy of watching Tumbbad comes from the fact that Barve and his co-writers offer no answers, making this a delightfully intriguing film." [70] Rajeev Masand called it "a wildly original film with a look and feel that is of the highest standard." [71] Jai Arjun Singh called the film "spooky, majestic and affecting, and these qualities come from the set design, the use of music, and the evocation of a place that is like a breathing thing, corroding the thoughts and actions of the people in it." [72]
Lee Marshall of Screen International called it an "initially atmospheric yarn let down by weak stock characters and a long veer into fright-free period drama in its over-long middle section". [73] The Hollywood Reporter 's Deborah Young called the film "atmospheric, heavy on mythology and scary as hell." [29] J. Hurtado of Screen Anarchy had a positive response and wrote: "A slow burn whose finale is wonderfully unexpected and yet fitting, Tumbbad is a great film and hopefully the start of a new trend in India." [74] He also included it on his list of 14 Favorite Indian Films of 2018. [51]
Dread Central's Jonathan Barkan wrote that the film "is more focused on the horror of human behavior than it is on creaking doors and the terror of what lurks in the dark." He also felt that the film's second half was "overly drawn out". [75] Matt Donato of /Film wrote: "Mad creature-feature designs, Academy-worthy blends of color and pristine optical packaging, despicable character work meant to provoke heartlessness traded for materialistic grandiosity – Tumbbad is a full genre package seasoned with a pungent foreign kick." [76] Trace Thurman of Bloody Disgusting wrote in his review: "With a compelling story of greed that spans more than 30 years, a memorable monster and some truly beautiful cinematography, Tumbbad is not to be missed." [77] Jacob Trussell of Film School Rejects called the film "Indian folk horror at its finest" that offers "an Indian film about Indian culture, removed of the trappings of the musical and replaced with stories of little known Indian theology." [78]
Tumbbad was made on a production budget of ₹50 million (US$600,000). [3] It collected ₹6.5 million (US$78,000) in its opening day at the box office. [79] The collection increased after positive word of mouth and the film earned ₹11.5 million (US$140,000) on its second and ₹14.5 million (US$170,000) on its third day, making a total of ₹32.5 million (US$390,000) during the first weekend. [80] At the end of its first week, the film earned a total of ₹58.5 million (US$700,000), it was followed by ₹89.9 million (US$1.1 million) in its second week and ₹101 million (US$1.2 million) in its third week. [81] At the end of its nine-week theatrical run, Tumbbad earned a total of ₹154 million (US$1.8 million) at the box office. [4]
Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Asian Film Awards | Best Cinematographer | Pankaj Kumar | Nominated | [82] |
Best Production Designer | Nitin Zihani Choudhary and Rakesh Yadav | Nominated | |||
2019 | CinemAsia Film Festival | Best Film | Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad | Won | [83] |
2019 | Critics Choice Film Awards, India | Best Director – Hindi | Adesh Prasad and Rahi Anil Barve | Nominated | [84] |
Best Cinematography | Pankaj Kumar | Won | |||
Best Production Design | Nitin Zihani Choudhary and Rakesh Yadav | Won | |||
Best Background Score | Jesper Kyd | Won | |||
2018 | El Gouna Film Festival | Golden Star | Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad | Nominated | [85] |
2019 | Filmfare Awards | Best Film (Critics) | Rahi Anil Barve | Nominated | [86] |
Best Editing | Sanyukta Kaza | Nominated | |||
Best Cinematography | Pankaj Kumar | Won | |||
Best Art Direction | Nitin Zihani Choudhary and Rakesh Yadav | Won | |||
Best Sound Design | Kunal Sharma | Won | |||
Best Costume Design | Smriti Chauhan and Sachin Lovalekar | Nominated | |||
Best Background Score | Jesper Kyd | Nominated | |||
Best Special Effects | Filmgate Films AB | Nominated | |||
2019 | FOI Online Awards | Best Feature Film | Aanand L Rai, Amita Shah, Mukesh Shah and Sohum Shah | Nominated | [87] |
Best Director | Adesh Prasad and Rahi Anil Barve | Nominated | |||
Best Adapted Screenplay | Adesh Prasad, Anand Gandhi, Mitesh Shah and Rahi Anil Barve | Nominated | |||
Best Cinematography | Pankaj Kumar | Won | |||
Best Editing | Sanyukta Kaza | Nominated | |||
Best Sound Design | Kunal Sharma | Nominated | |||
Best Background Score | Jesper Kyd | Nominated | |||
Best Production Design | Nitin Zihani Choudhary and Rakesh Yadav | Won | |||
Best Costume Design | Smriti Chauhan and Sachin Lovalekar | Nominated | |||
Best Make-up & Hair Styling | Serina Mendonce, Shrikant Desai and Dirty Hands | Won | |||
Best Special Effects | Filmgate Films AB – Martin Malmqvist | Nominated | |||
2019 | Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival | Vicious Cat – Best Feature Film | Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad | Won | [88] |
2019 | International Indian Film Academy Awards | Best Special Effects | Filmgate Films | Won | [89] |
Best Sound Recording | Kunal Sharma | Won | |||
2018 | Screamfest Horror Film Festival | Best Picture | Tumbbad | Won | [90] |
Best Visual Effects | Gajjar Parth | Won | |||
2019 | Screen Awards | Best Film (Critics) | Sohum Shah, Aanand L. Rai, Mukesh Shah and Amita Shah | Nominated | [91] |
Best Debut Director | Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad | Nominated | |||
Best Child Artist | Mohammad Samad | Won | |||
Dhundiraj Prabhakar Jogalekar | Won | ||||
Best Cinematography | Pankaj Kumar | Won | |||
2018 | Sitges Film Festival | Best Film | Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad | Nominated | [50] [92] |
Best Film – Focus Àsia | Won | ||||
Best Cinematography | Pankaj Kumar | Won | |||
2019 | Zee Cine Awards | Best Debut Director | Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad | Nominated | [93] |
Best Performance in a Negative Role | Sohum Shah | Nominated | |||
Best Production Design | Nitin Zihani Choudhary and Rakesh Yadav | Won | |||
On 28 August 2024, Sohum Shah shared an intriguing image from the film with the caption "Chilling with Hastar", leading to speculation about a re-release. [94] On 31 August 2024, Shah officially confirmed the re-release with a poster revealing the date. [95] The film was re-released in theaters on 13 September 2024. [96]
The film collected ₹1.65 crore on its opening day and saw an increase of ₹1 crore the next day, bringing its total to ₹2.65 crore on the second day. In just two days, the total gross has reached ₹4.30 crore. [97] [98] In its first weekend the film earned ₹7.34–7.50 crore surpassing the entire first-week earnings of ₹5.85 crore from its original 2018 release. [99] [100] The film crossed ₹10 crore mark in five days, with a total collection of ₹10.69 crore. [101] In eight days, the film exceeded the ₹15 crore mark, collecting ₹16.48 crore and surpassing its original run. [102]
In November 2018, it was announced that Sohum Shah would be working on the film's sequel. It will continue from where the original left off and may potentially reintroduce Vinayak. [103] Tumbbad 2 was officially confirmed during its theatrical re-release in September 2024. [104] The announcement teaser was released on social media on 14 September 2024. [105] It will explore the concept of immortality, with Pandurang taking center stage. [106]
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Mukta Barve is an Indian film, television, and theatre actress and a producer. One of the most popular Marathi celebrities, she has established a career in Marathi films. She is a recipient of seven Maharashtra State Film Awards one for Best Debut and other six for Best Actress in different plays and films.
Swapnil Joshi is an Indian film and television actor, in Hindi and Marathi languages. At nine years old, he appeared in the Ramanand Sagar show Uttar Ramayan. He has done some of the most successful series in television such as Krishna, Eka Lagnachi Dusri Goshta as well as films like Duniyadari, Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai casting him as the lead actor. He has done many comedy shows like Comedy Circus and Papad Pol – Shahabuddin Rathod Ki Rangeen Duniya in Hindi industry. Swapnil owns a wrestling team named 'Vidarbhache Wagh' in Zee Maharashtra Kusti Dangal. He was ranked twelfth in The Times of India's Top 20 Most Desirable Men of Maharashtra in 2017.
Ship of Theseus is a 2012 Indian drama film written and directed by Anand Gandhi, and produced by actor Sohum Shah. The film explores "questions of identity, justice, beauty, meaning and death through the stories of an experimental photographer, an ailing monk and an enterprising stockbroker", played by Aida El-Kashef, Neeraj Kabi and Sohum Shah, respectively.
Zero is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film written by Himanshu Sharma, directed by Aanand L. Rai and produced by Colour Yellow Productions in collaboration with Red Chillies Entertainment. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, and Katrina Kaif, while Anushka Sharma, Abhay Deol, R. Madhavan and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in important supporting cast. The plot revolves around Bauua Singh, a short man from Meerut who, after having difficulty finding a marriage partner, finds a companion in Aafia Bhinder, a NSAR scientist with cerebral palsy. However, film superstar Babita also gets close with him, testing his first relationship, before this love triangle takes them to far-off cities, thrusting Bauua into an adventure to discover both his true love and completeness in a life lived to the fullest.
Stree (transl. Woman) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language comedy horror film directed by debutant Amar Kaushik and produced by Dinesh Vijan and Raj & DK. It stars Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor, alongside Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee. The plot is based on the urban legend Naale Baa, which means "come tomorrow" in Kannada, modified as "o stree kal aana" in the film.
Sohum Shah is an Indian actor, producer, and entrepreneur who works in Hindi films. He made his first screen appearance in 2009 with the film Baabarr, where he played the antagonist and in 2012 with the National Award-winning film Ship of Theseus which was produced under his banner, Recyclewala Films. Following his debut, Shah featured in Talvar (2015) and Simran (2017). His film Tumbbad received critical acclaim.
Tumbbad is a village located on the banks of Jagbudi River in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra's Konkan division. The village is about 100 kilometres away from the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary. The village is famous for Mugger Crocodiles. Tumbbad is known for it’s ancient treasure. Though it can be a myth, as nobody knows exactly where the treasure is buried. It’s also true that some people of the village worships Hastar.
Bigil (transl. Whistle) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language sports action drama film directed by Atlee and produced by AGS Entertainment. The film stars Vijay in dual lead roles, alongside an ensemble cast of Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Vivek, Kathir, Daniel Balaji, Anandaraj, Yogi Babu, I. M. Vijayan, Arjan Bajwa, Indhuja Ravichandran, Reba Monica John and Amritha Aiyer. It is the third and final collaboration of Vijay with Atlee after Theri (2016) and Mersal (2017). The film follows Michael Rayappan alias "Bigil", a footballer-turned-gangster, who decides to coach a women's football team.