Anurag Kashyap hugs and praises PA Ranjith after watching his film Natchathiram Nagargiradhu. See pics

Filmmaker Pa. Ranjith is gearing up for the release of his latest Tamil film Natchathiram Nagargiradhu this week. Over the weekend, he organized a special screening of the film for selects guests in Mumbai. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who was one among the invitees, was so impressed by the film that he hugged Ranjith after the screening. Pictures from the screening have surfaced on social media. Also Read: Anurag Kashyap says films aren’t working in South either: ‘People are paying GST on paneer’

Apart from Anurag Kashyap, the screening was also attended by Nandita Das and filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan.

Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan who also attended the screening also praised it on social media. He tweeted, “@beemji opens #NatchathiramNagargiradhu with Nina Simone playing over a Gustav Klimt to see a couple arguing over Ilaiyaraaja. Irreverent, form-bending masterpiece from Pa Ranjith. Outstanding performances by Dushara Vijayan, Kalaiyarasan Anbu and Kalidas Jayaram.”

Natchathiram Nagargiradhu is Ranjith’s sixth feature. Unlike his previous films that have predominantly explored caste and its politics, this will be the first time Ranjith has made a film about the idea of love and politics behind it.

Going by the film’s trailer which was released recently, this will be the first mainstream film that’ll talk about queer love.

Talking about the movie, Ranjith said in an interview with The Hindu, “I didn’t want to write a regular love story between a man and a woman. So, I started exploring the love stories that are around us. This is not a film about queer love but queer characters are there in the film. They all come together to create a theatrical play which is against caste and honour killing. In Tamil Nadu, there is a big discussion on nadaga Kadhal (theatre play). This film talks about that and discusses the politics of love. My friends who read the script felt it was refreshing. But they had questions like: “Will the audience accept it?”

Ranjith also revealed that he had initially planned to make this movie right after Rajinikanth’s Kabali. However, the response that he got for Kabali, pushed him to work on another film (Kaala) with Rajinikanth immediately.

The film, which releases in cinemas on Wednesday, stars Kalidas Jayaram, Kalaiarasan and Dushara Vijayan in key roles.

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