Bollywood star Alia Bhatt has added another exciting project to her career, but this time she is not in front of the camera. Her upcoming production, ‘Difficult Daughters’, has been chosen as one of the 30 projects for the prestigious Asian Project Market (APM) at this year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
This news was first reported by ‘Deadline’.
The film is a special project for Alia as it is directed by her mother, veteran actress Soni Razdan. Alia is producing the film along with her sister Shaheen Bhatt and well-known indie film producer Alan McAlex, who previously worked on ‘Santosh’.
Every year, the APM invites a small group of promising film projects from Asia to present their ideas to international investors, producers, and distributors.
This gives filmmakers a chance to find financial support and creative partners to bring their stories to life. For ‘Difficult Daughters’, this is a big step towards reaching a global audience.
But Alia’s film is not the only Indian project at this year’s APM. The lineup also includes ‘The Last of Them Plagues’, directed by Kunjila Mascillamani. This film is produced by actress Kani Kusruti and filmmaker Payal Kapadia, known for ‘All We Imagine As Light’. Kusruti was also part of BIFF’s New Currents jury last year.
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Another Indian entry is ‘Moon’, directed by Pradip Kurbah. He had previously won the Jiseok Award at BIFF in 2019. From Bangladesh, filmmaker Biplob Sarkar is presenting ‘The Magical Men’, which tells an LGBTQ+ story.
Malaysian director Lau Kok Rui is also part of the lineup with his new project ‘Wake Me Up When the Mourning Ends’. His film is production of Soi Cheang, Stefano Centini, and Wong Kew Soon.
This year’s Asian Project Market will take place from September 20 to 23 at BEXCO during the 20th edition of the Asian Contents & Film Market. It is an important event where new films find their path to international recognition.
Alia Bhatt, meanwhile, continues to juggle her roles as both actor and producer. She last appeared in ‘Jigra’ by Vasan Bala, where she played a sister determined to protect her brother from jail. Alia also produced this film.
Next, she will appear in ‘Alpha’, part of Yash Raj Films’ spy universe, which is going to release on December 25. She is also working on ‘Love and War’, a project that stars her husband Ranbir Kapoor and actor Vicky Kaushal. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is directing this film.