Venice selection ‘Stolen’ acquired by Prime Video
Prime Video has taken over Venice Film Festival selection ‘Stolen’.
The Indian Hindi language crime thriller marks the direction of Karan Tejpal and is produced by Gaurav Dhingra for Jungle Book Studio. The project is supported by a powerful line -up of executive producers, including Anurag Kashyap, Kiran Rao, Nikkhil Advani and Vikramaditya Motwane.
The thriller follows two Broeders Urbane who witnesses a baby abducted by a poor mother at a train station in the India countryside. One brother, led by moral duty, convinces the other to help the mother and participate in a dangerous investigation to find the child.
The cast includes Abhishek Banerjee, Harish Khanna, Mia Maelzer, Sahidur Rahaman and Shubham Vardhan in lead roles. Tejpal wrote the scenario together with Swapnil Salkar-Agadbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbum.
After the Venice premiere in 2023, “Stolen” went on a remarkable festival run and gathered praise for the world. At the Beijing International Film Festival it claimed the best director, Best Cinematography and Best Actress Honors. The Japanese Skip City International D-Cinema Festival has awarded the best film and best director, while the Zurich film festival honored the photo with a special mention. Local premiered the film at the Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival and shown at the 28th International Film Festival by Kerala.
“‘Stolen’ is an example of the dedication of Prime Video to defend courageous, meaningful stories that resonate deeply with the audience,” said Manish Menghani, director and head of content letters at Prime Video India. “This edge-of-the-zithriller is more than entertainment-he has a mirror for society, which delves into powerful themes of justice, trauma and human resilience.”
The executive producers were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the debut function.
“I was just completely blown through the film. From the beginning the tension that brews, it reaches a boiling point so quickly and then keeps drinking until I was almost out of breath,” said Kashyap. “What incredible performances of three leads, and this girl Mia (Maelzer), saw her in ‘The Braid,’ now ‘stolen’ and in that before that [“Santosh” director] Sandhya Suri’s short film [“The Field”]. I am so surprised that India is not aware of this phenomenal actor. ”
“” Stolen “is an adrenaline bunch and a truth bomb rolled in one exciting ride,” added Rao. “Karan’s power to keep me at the edge of my chair, while I give complex characters and a raw, ringsside representation of contemporary India is just fantastic.”
“It is such a solid, tight, thriller and made by a debut director,” said Advani. “Abhishek (Banerjee) showed me a sizzle when we were photographing and I just wanted to see the film and when I saw that the film wanted to help everything.”
Motwane was impressed for a moment: “The first time I saw ‘stolen’, I was blown away. It feels like a complete film – it is tough, it is spicy, it gets you in the belly. It is funny, there is fighting, some great action and chase sequence. – And done in a genre – makes it such a mandatory film.
Producer Dhingra called the project “A sleek, emotionally resonating thriller – a human story wrapped in urgency and tension”, and noted that “making this story and resonating it so powerfully at the global festival circuit has been a deeply moving experience.”
“Stolen” will only stream worldwide from 4 June at 40 countries and more than 240 countries and areas worldwide.
