Malayali filmmaker wins honours for Marathi film Pugalya

Malayali filmmaker Vinod Sam Peter is coming out with an independent Marathi film called Puglya. The children-centric film has won multiple awards at various international film festivals.

It recently won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Music trophies at Los Angeles’ World Premiere Film Awards. Ganesh Shelke won Best Actor, and Poonam Chandorkar won Best Actress. The makers say the film got selected from around 2000 entries. Puglya is also the first Indian film to win at the festival.

The film tells the story of two school kids and the emotional changes in them after a pet dog’s arrival.

Other Malayalis in the film’s crew are musician Santosh Chandran, who won an award for the background score, music composer Benny Johnson, cinematographer Rajesh Peter, and costume designers Sachin Krishna and Vishnu Kumar.

Puglya was shot in Pune and neighbouring areas. Vinod Sam Peter, who also produced the film under the banner of Abraham Films, is hoping to release it once theatres reopen.