After the highly-acclaimed and international award-winning Before the Rains, ace cinematographer-director Santosh Sivan is back with his new directorial venture, Tahaan, which has almost completed its extensive shoot at the Indo-Pak border village of Pahalgaam. To be released by Sony Pictures on September 5, Tahaan tells the story of a boy with a grenade.
Hailing from Kerala, Santosh said says Tahaan is actually the name of a eight-year-old boy and story is actually a fable about him and his donkey. "The donkey is the boy's friend and when he gets separated from the animal, the boy makes a journey to him back. And since it's a land of conflict, he comes through various incidents," he says.
Tahaan (Purav Bhandare), his grandfather (Victor Banerjee), his mother Haba (Sarika) and older sister Zoya (Sana Shaikh) all live in the hope that Tahaan’s father, who has been missing for over three years, will return some day. After the sudden death of his grandfather, a local moneylender Lalaji and his manager Kuka (Rahul Khanna) take away the assets of the family, including his pet donkey Birbal, against repayment of a pending loan.
Now for Tahaan, bringing his favourite donkey Birbal back home becomes the sole purpose in life. But, Birbal is sold to a trader Subhan Darr (Anupam Kher), who never stays anywhere but continuously travels through the mountains of Kashmir for trade. Will Tahaan get back his Birbal or what will he have permanently forfeit Birbal constitutes the rest of the plot.
Other than shooting and directing Tahaan, Santosh Sivan has also written the story and screenplay with Ritesh Menon and Paul Hardart. The haunting music is by Taufique Qureshi. The film is produced by iDream Production in association with Santosh Sivan Films.
