Praveen Morchhale is 65th National Film Awards of India winner as well as ICFT-UNESCO Medal winner film director, producer and screenwriter, who works in Indian cinema.
Films
Praveen Morchhale created his first feature filmBarefoot to Goa in 2015. Having started out by making short films and directing theatre, this film turned to crowdfunding prior to its release on 10 April 2015. Co-produced by 238 people who raised a sum of INR 5 million, this film depicted the indulgent relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild. His next feature "Walking with the Wind", bagged three prizes at the 65th National Film Awards - Best Film, Best Sound Design and Best Re-Recording. This film was also awarded the ICFT UNESCO Gandhi medal at the 49th International Film Festival of India. Morchhale's third film, Widow of Silence is about a Kashmiri woman, Aasiya, whose husband gets picked up by the security forces. After waiting for seven years she is now a 'half-widow', a woman whose husband is missing, facing a government which is unwilling to declare him dead. This Urdu language feature was premiered at the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival on 12 November 2018 after debuting at the 23rd Busan International Film Festival where it was nominated for the Kim Jiseok Award. At the 17th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, "Widow of Silence" won the Grand Jury prize for the best feature, for its depiction of "a condition that most of the world doesn't get to see".
Critical response
Praveen's all three films have received critical response from all over the world. Widow of Silence has received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The New York Times wrote that "“Widow of Silence” is a movie with a cool head and a sharp eye — one that sees greater hope in the flamboyantly jeweled tones of a carmine head scarf than in the entrenched absurdities of a broken bureaucracy. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the least compromised by sentimentality, it packs an unsettling message of empowerment very rare in the social injustice genre. Roger Ebert.com has a highly praise for the film - "The final four minutes turn what was already a fine picture into an unforgettable one, affirming Morchhale’s status as one of the most exciting figures of the Indian new wave." wrote on Scroll.in that "Hope is a running theme in Morchhale’s films". According to her, "In Widow of Silence, Aasiya’s hope leads to a jarring poetic justice. “The end signifies not just the end of the villain but also of the system”". Reviewing the film for the Asian Movie Pulse, Joanna KOŃCZAK noted that "Morchhale has undoubtedly brought up important issues and gave the voice to the people of the Valley, dwelling on their suffering and sorrows without a preachy tone and exaggerated melodrama. It is very rare for Indian filmmakers to take on the Kashmiri case in such an emphatic and problem-focused manner." Belgian distributor MOOOV has picked up Benelux rights from Oration Films to Praveen Morchhale’s Kashmir-set Widow Of Silence. The deal for all rights excluding airlines marks the first for the film.
Inspiration
Morchhale has been noted for his subtle, natural and simplistic style of cinema and he mostly uses non-actors in his films. He takes his inspiration from Iranian Cinema, especially directors like Abbas Kiarostami whom he considers an "epitome of simple cinema...who uses the film medium to express stories in a minimalist way...without worrying too much about commercial aspects.".
