Frozen (2007 film)

Frozen
Directed by	Shivajee Chandrabhushan
Produced by	Shivajee Chandrabhushan
Written by	Shanker Raman (screenplay) Shivajee Chandrabhushan (story)
Starring	Danny Denzongpa Gauri Rajendranath Zutshi Aamir Bashir
Music by	John P. Varkey
Cinematography	Shanker Raman
Editing by	Shan Mohammed
Release dates	July 2007 (2007-07)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi Ladakhi

Frozen is a 2007 black-and-white Indian drama film directed by Shivajee Chandrabhushan. The original screenplay written by Shanker Raman, based on a story by Chandrabhushan and starring Danny Denzongpa, Gauri, and Skalzang Angchuk. The film was shot entirely on location at Ladakh, India.^[1][2]

It was featured at the various international film festivals, including the 2007 London Film Festival and Dubai International Film Festival,^[3] and was the official selection at 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and 2008 San Francisco International Film Festival, and Palm Springs International Film Festival.^[4][5][6][7]

At the annual National Film Awards, it was awarded the 2007 Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director.^[8]

Plot

The film is a sombre journey of imaginative and impulsive teenager, Lasya (Gauri), who lives with her father Karma (Danny), an apricot jam-maker and younger brother Chomo (Angchuk) in a remote village in the Himalayas. Pristine snow capped mountains surround their tiny hamlet and barren harsh land stretches for miles into nowhere. One day the army moves in, settles a hundred yards across their doorstep. The last bit of comfort the family draws from their familiar surroundings changes into a harsh ceaseless irreversible conflict. The film depicts the life of this family whose dream like existence is interrupted by inevitable odds, one after the other.^[9]

Cast

• Danny Denzongpa- Karma
• Gauri - Lasya
• Aungchuk - Chomo
• Shakeel Khan - Romeo
• Rajendranath Zutshi - Dawa
• Yashpal Sharma - Sharma
• Aamir Bashir - Commanding Officer
• Denzil Smith - Tenzing
• Sanjay Swaraj - Salim
• Anuradha Baral - Sita
• Sonam Stobgias Gorky - Rinpoche
• Shilpa Shukla - Karma's Wife
• Wangchuk Dorjey Mogul - Officer Wangchuk
• Stanzin Jordan - Vicky
• Manish Mathur - Performing Artiste

Production

The film was shot in Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, India in February 2006, over 34 days at an average height of 15,000 ft above sea level. The film was shot in colour and was digitally intermediated to black and white. The house where the film was picturised was built at Stakmo, behind Thiksey Monastery.^[3][6][10]

• Production company: Seagull Media Productions, Phat Phish Motion Pictures
• Production Design: Sonali Singh, Siddarth Sirohi
• Sound Design: Vivek Sachidanand ^[11]
• Art Direction: Dawa Tsering
• Costume Design: Loveleena Jain
• Editing: Shan Mohammed

Reception

A review by Dennis Harvey of Variety, said that film's director's "background as a photographer and mountaineer, -- is evident in every frame of directorial debut "Frozen.".^[12]

Though the film had been going through Film Festival circuit since 2007 when the film was ready, its commercial release however happened in May 2009, during the stand off between producers and multiplexes, which resulted in number of films coming out of cold storage.^[13]

Awards and nominations

The film has won (or been nominated for) the following awards:

Won

• National Film Awards
  • Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director - Shivajee Chandrabhushan
  • National Film Award for Best Cinematography - Shanker Raman ^[8]
• Durban International Film Festival - Best Cinematography - Shanker Raman ^[14]
• Osian-Cinefan Film Festival, Delhi - Special Jury Award ^[3]

Nominated

• International Thessaloniki Film Festival - Golden Alexander (Best Film) - Shivajee Chandrabhushan
• Asian Film Award for Best Cinematographer - Shanker Raman

References

External links

• Frozen at the Internet Movie Database
• Frozen DVD now available at DearCinema.com
• Film Review Passion for Cinema.
• Movie stills