13/05/2013 - Film on gas tragedy set for private Cannes screening

London-based international production and sales company GFM Films has acquired exclusive worldwide sales rights for Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain, directed by Ravi Kumar (the short My Other Wheelchair Is A Porsche). Set in December 1984, the film is based on true events when a devastating pesticide leak at the Union Carbide plant in Madhya Pradesh, central India, killed thousands of people. Written by David Brooks and starring Martin Sheen (The Departed), Mischa Barton (A Resurrection), Kal Penn (The Namesake) and Tannishtha Chatterjee (Anna Karenina [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), the film is being presented at a private distributors only screening during Cannes.       

Kumar said, “I really wanted to tell this story in a way that young audiences around the world could relate to, by revealing human stories, and to have a balanced view on the horrific tragedy which would let audiences make up their own mind as to who was responsible for the disaster. The story is fictional but inspired by real events and based on facts learned from hundreds of interviews with survivors and Carbide and US government staff.”

Sheen said, “As soon I read the script I knew I had return to India to make this film… it’s a canvas of human life, the joy and suffering. The beauty and the greed, people at their worst, and at their best.”

Mike Ryan, Chief Executive of GFM Films added, “It is an incredibly powerful and a beautifully crafted and shot film with such strong performances.  It is an extraordinary film for any filmmaker to bring to the screen but as a first-time feature, it truly is remarkable.” 

Sahara One Media and Entertainment Ltd produced the film in association with Rising Star Entertainment Pvt Ltd.