'Parched' heads to Toronto film fest, director elated

Leena Yadav's film "Parched" will have its world premiere at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), to be held September 10-20. The director is honoured that the movie, which marks Ajay Devgn's foray into international cinema as co-producer, will be screened at the gala.

"Parched", featuring an ensemble of stars like Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla, Adil Hussain, Sumeet Vyas, Lehar Khan, Riddhi Sen, Mahesh Balraj and Chandan Anand, will premiere in the Special Presentation Section of the film festival.

"It's an honour to be selected at this prestigious film festival and to be in the august company of such a great line-up of films," Yadav said in statement.

Set in rural India, the film follows the lives of three ordinary women who begin to break free from the century-old traditions.

"'Parched' transcends boundaries of language and culture and its themes and stories will find resonance with a global audience. Every member of the team has poured their love and passion into the film and I hope that has translated to a compelling watch on screen," Yadav added.

The film is jointly produced by Ajay, Aseem Bajaj, Gulab Singh and Rohan Jagdale.

Talking about the film, Ajay said: "'Parched' is about the small battles that women must fight to win the big war. Films like 'Parched' need to be made, seen, and discussed."

The film will be showcased in a segment which will also screen Johnny Depp's "Black Mass", Ethan Hawke's "Born To Be Blue", Jason Bateman and Nicole Kidman's "The Family Fang", Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight" and Michael Moore's "Where to Invade Next" among many.