After a widely acclaimed run on the global festival circuit, filmmaker Ritwik Pareek’s comedy mystery satire Dug Dug is finally headed for its India release. Backed by industry heavyweights Anurag Kashyap, Nikkhil Advani, Vikramaditya Motwane and Vasan Bala as executive producers, the film is slated to hit Indian screens this summer.
Dug Dug’s Plot
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.
“I was blown away by Dug Dug, its storytelling, cinematography and music,” said Kashyap about the feature, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021. “It was like a visual rave. I am stumped by the fact that this film hasn’t been released theatrically. That got the four of us together, along with Ranjan, to release it. Fingers crossed it will receive the same love,” Kashyap added.
Calling it “one of the best debut films” he has seen, Vikramaditya Motwane stated, “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.”
After TIFF, Dug Dug went on to screen 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.
Lauding Dug Dug, Nikkhil Advani added, “It is as authentic and genuine an Indian film as it can be. 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.”
While Vasan Bala said, “There is nothing absurd in Ritwik’s Dug Dug, if anything, it’s the world as he sees it not what he assumes it could be. I am totally captivated by its telling and visualisation…Hope to see more of his splendour being unleashed in cinema.”
Ritwik Pareek, who has also written the film which stars Altaf Khan, Gaurav Soni, Yogendra Singh and Durga Lal Saini, said Dug Dug is meant to be experienced in a theatre, on the biggest screen possible.
“We’ve waited a long time for this, and finally it’s happening. Not just happening, but happening with Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Nikkhil Advani and Vasan Bala coming on board, filmmakers I have grown up watching and learning from, which makes it very special for me. I feel grateful and eternally thankful for all the support they are giving, it means a lot,” he added.
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