Director Vasan Bala’s action thriller Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota won the top award at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sunday.
The film which marks the debut of Abhimanyu Dasani and television actress Radhika Madan also stars Gulshan Devaiah and Mahesh Manjrekar.
Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota is India’s first-ever entry into the festival’s “Midnight Madness segment’. It won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award where films in action, horror, shock and fantasy genre are placed.
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Titled ‘The Man Who Feels No Pain‘ in English, the film is an action comedy heavily on the martial arts-centred films of the 70s and 80s. The 134-minute film, which was shot in Mumbai, tells the story of a young man afflicted with a disease that makes him immune to pain.
The film had its world premiere at the Ryerson Theatre situated on the Ryerson University campus at midnight was one of the six Indian movies selected to the 43rd edition of the Toronto film festival.
Accepting the award along with Radhika Madan and Ankur Nayyar, Bala said: “The last time I was called upon the stage was when I was in fourth grade and it was arts and craft… I cut cardboard and glued them together… Similar feeling… I think it is a similar story. First, you write the script and then you are never meant to make the film… Once you make the film, then you are not meant to be in the festival, once you are meant to be in the festival, you are not meant to finish it in time for screening. That’s my life… I have never meant to be anywhere…thanks TIFF for changing it.”
The film revolves around a man with congenital insensitivity to pain, hence the title. Its English title is “The Man Who Feels No Pain”.
Produced by Ronnie Screwvala under the banner of RSVP, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota is written and directed by Vasan Bala. Starring Abhimanyu Dassani, Radhika Madan, Gulshan Devaiah, Mahesh Manjrekar and Jimit Trivedi.