Director Ritwik Pareek's festival favourite film Dug Dug, a satire about religious frenzy in a small town, is finally set for release next month with filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Nikkhil Advani, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Vasan Bala serving as executive producers.
The comedy-mystery-satire is slated to hit Indian screens on May 8, the makers announced Thursday.
Inspired by true events, Dug Dug follows a bizarre phenomenon in a village where a deceased man's motorbike is believed to grant wishes, provided devotees pray to it and offer alcohol.
As word spreads and prayers begin to be answered the belief snowballs into a full-blown, commercialised religion.
The film, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021, was screened at several international platforms including the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival and the International Film Festival of Kerala.
Kashyap said he was "blown away" by the storytelling, cinematography and music of Dug Dug.
"It was like a visual rave. I am stumped by the fact that this film hadn't released theatrically. That got the four of us together along with Ranjan to release it. Fingers crossed it will receive the same love," the filmmaker said in a statement.
Calling it "one of the best debut films" he has seen, Motwane said, "Dug Dug is a fantastic and genuine Indian story about our society and our belief systems. Ritwik has told it with the perfect amount of irreverence and humour. I hope that the film can reach a wider audience."
Advani described it as an authentic Indian film.
"Ritwik's flair for taking a simple story and telling it with a pragmatic and yet humorous take, is what impressed me the most. I feel the audience will also love it as much as I did," he said.
