Dimapur girl takes screen dreams to country’s film industry

Dimapur native Nasira Khan is taking her dreams to the big screen. Khan, who hails from Nagaland’s commercial district, has begun foraying into the movie industry as a film producer. She currently resides in Delhi and has co-founded a Delhi-based production house called ‘The Film Company,’ with associate Tarun Jain. Khan’s first short film ‘Aakhir’ (At Last), directed by Tarun Jain, has been to over 42 festivals across the world. It has bagged six awards in various categories. Aakhir made its television debut on an exclusive channel in the US. After achieving recognition, it was distributed for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Further, the short film has been acquired by a US-based aggregator for VOD platforms and as an exclusive for the French market too. It will also be available for the south Asian television starting this September. Besides distributing her films, she has also collaborated with other various filmmakers to distribute their films in the international markets and various festivals. That is not all. ‘Amma meri’ (Mother), also directed by Tarun Jain, is her second short film. It made its premiere at the IDSFFK in Kerela, followed by a special screening at the Institute of Cervantes at Delhi. The film was also part of a prestigious funding program. It received special mention in trending film reviews. Besides producing films, Nasira Khan is also a screen writer who will be directing her first short film soon. She has written scripts for various corporate also and is currently focusing on producing her latest film ‘Black.’ The film is based on the recent outrage on the African community in Delhi. The film will be shot in September. For this project, she is looking for funders to collaborate on the project. In addition to producing and writing films mainly for Hindi language audience, she has aspiration to work with local filmmakers from Nagaland and Northeast India to promote regional cinema. Reviews: Accolades for Nasira Khan’s work Meenakshi Shedde, a festival programmer and curator for various festivals in India, has recommended ‘Amma meri’ to the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. For this project, the sound was designed by Shajith Koyeri, who designed sound for Vishal Bharadwaj’s films. Shajith has won a National Award for Omkara and a Filmfare Award for Talwar. His recent success was Dangal. Rajat Kapoor of the Dil chahta hai fame, said he loved the opening shot and is ‘a film of great potential.’ Sreekar Prasad, a 10-time National Award winning film editor who has worked for films such as Hindi Medium, Dil Chahta hai, Raavan, Talwar etc said, ‘This film will be appreciated wherever it goes. My best wishes to the team.’ Likeiwse, Bela Negi, a four-time member of jury for the National Awards commented, ‘This is a lovely film. Much impressed by the restrained style. It brings alive a bleak world very beautifully.’ EMN