This is the story of how a small Indian independent film is conquering the world, one country at a time. It has set a record already. It is amongst the five all time most watched Indian films in theaters in France. And it is still playing. The five most watched films, based on entries (tickets sold) are as follows. What is also really wonderful about the list is that three of the five films are by female filmmakers.
Salaam Bombay by Mira Nair, released on 24 Aug 1988. Entries: 633, 899
The Lunchbox by Ritesh Batra, released on 11 Dec 2013. Entries: 481,368
Le Salon de Musique | Jalsaghar by Satyajit Ray, released on 18 Feb 1981. Entries: 173,758
La Saison Des Femmes | Parched by Leena Yadav, released on 20 April 2016. Entries: 160,379
And now,
Monsieur | Sir by Rohena Gera, released on 26 December 2018. Entries: 155,307 (still playing)
Amongst the films released in France over the last year, have been heavyweight films in the domestic circuit, such as Gully Boy, 2.0, Padmaavat, Uri, Sanju and Simmba. And none of them have numbers anywhere close to these films, the highest being Padmaavat with 11,883 tickets sold as per the French box office publication.
Sir has also had a theatrical run in Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Netherlands and Belgium. It releases in Canada, Denmark, Sweden and Taiwan in April, and Norway, Spain and Israel in May.
Sir has just entered Week 13 in France. It completed Week 12 on 19 March, Tuesday. (Films release on Wednesdays in the country.) It was playing in more than 100 screens in France in its 6th week. While we do not have confirmed numbers on the revenue yet, what we do have for you, is the international trailer. And the promise to let you know first when it has an India release date. The film is touted to have a brilliant performance by Tilltoama Shoma, who has made the role of the domestic maid servant in Indian society multidimensional for the second time in her career, the first being in the iconic film, Monsoon Wedding. Watch the trailer here.
Take a look at the pictures of the Sir posters all across Paris in iconic and heritage locations here. And some wonderful pictures from their world premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2018 here along with more on its film festival journey, which showcase the gratitude the filmmakers and actors have for the journey they are on.
Will Sir finds its audience in India? Or is a film like Sir relegated to the urban cinephile, the diaspora and the subtitle friendly European audience. I can only hope for the former. It has one in me. Upwards and onwards.