Azhar Khan, Celina Jaitly Haag, Director Ram Kamal Mukherjee and Lillette Dubey. Photo by Sudipta Chanda
Post marriage and motherhood glam girl of B-town Celina Jaitly Haag come back with A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh: Season’s Greetings. It has been selected at various international festivals across the globe. Now another feather added in their crown, United Nations and their team from Geneva decided to officially be the social cause collaborators under their Free and Equal projects.
Directed by author turned filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee, Season greetings deals with a mother and daughter relationship (portrayed by Celina Jaitly and Lillette Dubey) that ends with an unexpected twist. It connects such topics like an acceptance of same-sex relationship and the lives of the LGBTQ community just. Like any other movie of Rituparno Ghosh, this one deals with human emotions, in various hues.
United Nations Free and Equal Campaign Manager Rikke Hennum shares, “We’re delighted to have support director Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s Indian feature film A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh: Season’s Greetings, for United Nation’s Free & Equal — the global campaign for equality for LGBTQIA people around the world. We know from experience that films like this can play a critical role in starting and sustaining those conversations. We look forward to working with Ram Kamal and his team behind Season’s Greetings — to help raise awareness of some of the issues the film touches upon — from acceptance of same-sex relationships to the lives of LGBTQIA people in India.”
On this note, Celina says, “I am extremely proud of the fact that the United Nations has agreed to be the social cause partner under their Free & Equal campaign for the film. The film went through the entire screening process and eventually United Nations Free and Equal felt that we need to talk about this story globally. The film’s release comes at a historic moment for India’s lesbian, gay, bi and trans population, following the decision of the country’s Supreme Court to strike down a colonial-era ban on consensual same-sex relationships and previous court judgements affirming the rights of transgender people.”
Ram Kamal Mukherjee ecstatic about the collaboration says, “This was unexpected and yet a pleasant surprise. When Celina suggested that we must show the film to UN, I was a bit nervous thinking that it’s an Indian film and they might not get the soul. But they proved me wrong, and I was overwhelmed with their detailed feedback on the film. I am sure Ritu da would have been the happiest today.”
Celina Jaitly, director Ram Kamal Mukherjee, Lillette Dubey, Azhar Khan, producer Aritra Das and Shailendra Kumar
A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh: Season’s Greetings is produced by Aritra Das and Shailendra Kumar under the banner of Assorted Motion Pictures and SS1 Entertainment respectively. It will be premiered at Changing Face International Film Festival in Sydney, Australia in November and hit the screen across India by end of this year.
