Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra’s upcoming Hindi film, Photograph, co-starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra, will be screened at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival. Before that, the film will travel to the Sundance Film Festival where it will have its world premiere. 

The 2019 Berlin International Film Festival will be held between February 7-17. Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, is another Hindi film to be screened in the ‘Berlinale Special Films’ section, while Rima Das’ Assamese film Bulbul Can Singh will compete in Generation 14 Plus category. 

Photograph tells the story of a struggling street photographer who pretends to be the fiancé of a shy young girl. Speaking about her role in the film, Sanya said, “You don't necessarily get the background of a character every time, so you have to create it mentally and write about it. This is something I learnt from Geetanjali Kulkarni with whom I worked in Photograph. When we were doing workshops, she would bring a diary with her. She had written notes on her character, woh gaav se hogi, aisa karti hogi, etc. I got inspired by it and did it and did the same when I shot for Badhaai Ho.” 

Photograph also stars Abdul Quadir Amir and Denzil Smith. The film is an international co-production led by Batra’s Poetic License Motion Pictures.