I Am Kalam

I Am Kalam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Nila Madhab Panda
Produced by Santanu Mishra
Jitendra mishra
(Associate)
Screenplay by Sanjay Chauhan
Story by Sanjay Chauhan
Starring Harsh Mayar
Gulshan Grover
Pitobash Tripathy
Beatrice Ordeix
Music by Abhishek Ray
Madhuparna
Papon
Susmit Bose
Shivji Dholi
Cinematography Mohana Krishna
Edited by Prashant Nayak
Production
company
Release date
  • 12 May 2010 (2010-05-12) (Cannes)
  • 5 August 2011 (2011-08-05) (Indian)
Running time
 87 minutes
Country India
Language Hindi
Budget ₹3 crore (equivalent to ₹4.4 crore or US$610,000 in 2017)
Box office ₹6 crore (equivalent to ₹8.8 crore or US$1.2 million in 2017)

I Am Kalam is a 2011 Indian Hindi drama film produced by Smile Foundation and directed by Nila Madhab Panda. The character of Chhotu has been performed by Harsh Mayar.[1] The film was screened in the market section at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival on 12 May 2010.[2] It has been showcased in various film festivals and has received many awards and honours.[3][4][5][6] The film was screened retrospective on August 17th 2016 at the Independence Day Film Festival jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals and Ministry of Defense, commemorating 70th Indian Independence Day.

Cast

  • Harsh Mayar as Chhotu/Kalam
  • Hussan Saad as Prince Ranvijay
  • Gulshan Grover as Bhati the dhaba owner
  • Beatrice Ordeix (a French actor) as Lucy
  • Pitobash Tripathy as Laptan
  • Meena Mir as Chhotu's mother
  • Suresh Acharya as Lakha's Assistant
  • Biswajeet Bal as Sukha Singh
  • Rajat Bhalla as Police Havaldar
  • Garima Bharadwaj as Rani Sa
  • Sanjay Chauhan as Raja Rudra Pratap Singh
  • S.D. Chouhan as Ranvijay's worker

Plot

A poor boy derives inspiration from the former President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. He then decides to change his name to Kalam and harbours a dream of meeting the visionary. (Harsh Mayar).

Location

This Film is shot in Bikaner, Rajasthan of India .

Release

I Am Kalam released in India screens on 5 August 2011. A special screening was held for Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at his Delhi residence on 29 July.[7] The film was acquired and distributed by Ultra Media & Entertainment [8]

Reception

Critical response

Rajeev Masand of News18 praised the acting performances of all actors specially Harsh Mayar who played the character of Kalam. Masand also complimented the script which he felt was very well written because it integrated a very important message about education in its screenplay without being melodramatic. Masand gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5.[9] Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times found the film to be "sweet and engaging" and gave it a rating of 3 out of 5 appreciating it's realistic nature.[10] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 while praising it's good intentions and the performances of all actors.[11] Namrata Joshi of Outlook praised the positive nature of the film but found the pacing to be slow. Namrata gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 saying that "It’s a straight, simple story with no great highs and lows".[12] Amy L. Hayden of Time Out found the film "heartwarming and inspirational" but felt that American kids might not be able to relate to it.[13] The film was rated 4.60 on 5 by audiences at the Transilvania International Film Festival.[14] The Times of India gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, commented " It's inspirational, intelligent, topical and entertaining too. More importantly, it brims over with heart and soul, leaving no one untouched with its simple message of providing an equal opportunity".[15] DNA also gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, saying "At a little over 90 minutes, I Am Kalam is a gripping watch that leaves you feeling uplifted and positive.".[16]

Awards and nominations

Wins

  • Int'l Film Festival of India(IFFI),Goa by Young Jury for Best Feature Film[17]
  • National Film Award for Best Child Artist 2011 – Harsh Mayar. He won it along with two other children[18]
  • Lucas Film Festival, Germany for Best Feature Film[19]
  • Int'l Jury at Ale Kino Int'l Film Festival, Poland for Special Mention[17]
  • Don Quixote Prize of the International Ciné-Club Federation (ICCF) at the Lucas Film Festival[19]
  • Special Diploma at Minsk Int'l Film Festival, Listapadzik[17]
  • Aravindan Award for Best Debutante Director[20]
  • 57th Filmfare Awards for Best Story to Sanjay Chauhan[21]

Nominations

  • Mumbai Int'l Film Festival (MAMI) for Indian Frame Showcase[17]

References

  1. ↑ "I Am Kalam: Movie Review". The Times of India. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  2. ↑ "Nila Madhab Panda's I Am Kalam to screen at Cannes Film Festival". Businessofcinema.com.
  3. ↑ "I Am Kalam". ibnlive. 23 April 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "Kalam continues to inspire, now on reel – Oriya director's take on former President's struggle for education wins global award". The Telegraph. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  5. ↑ "I Am Kalam selected for London Film Festival". DNA India. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  6. ↑ Kaplan, Ilyse (13 April 2011). "Bollywood hits Hollywood". Variety. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Abdul Kalam gets nostalgic on watching I Am Kalam, Times of India, 30 July 2011, retrieved 4 August 2011
  8. ↑ "Release"
  9. ↑ "A better life". Rajeev Masand.
  10. ↑ "Mayank Shekhar's review: I Am Kalam". Hindustan Times.
  11. ↑ "I am Kalam - Movie Review by Shubhra Gupta". The Indian Express.
  12. ↑ "I Am Kalam - Movie Review by Namrata Joshi". Outlook.
  13. ↑ "I Am Kalam - Film review". Time Out.
  14. ↑ Kamath, Sudhish (6 August 2011). "I am Kalam – To Kalam, with love". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  15. ↑ "I Am Kalam". Times of India. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Review: Try not to miss the beautiful I Am Kalam". DNA India. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "awards"
  18. ↑ Kapoor, Nikita (24 June 2011). "Chillar Party reject Harsh Mayar wins National Award for I Am Kalam!". FilmiTadka. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  19. 1 2 "I Am Kalam wins two international awards". Bollywood Trade. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  20. ↑ "Aravindan Puraskaram for Nila Madhab Panda", OneIndia, 23 February 2011, retrieved 20 February 2012
  21. ↑ "Filmfare Awards 2011 Winners". Times of India. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.