''III Smoking Barrels'' is a 2017 Indian drama film written and directed by

Sanjib Dey ''III Smoking Barrels'' is a 2017 Indian drama film written and directed by Sanjib Dey and produced by Amit Malpani under his banner Malpani Talkies. The film is an anthology of three stories exploring three socio-political issues encompa ...

and produced by Amit Malpani under his banner Malpani Talkies. The film is an anthology of three stories exploring three socio-political issues encompassing

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

. The film also seamlessly uses six spoken languages which is considered a unique feat in

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

history. ''III Smoking Barrels'' premiered at the 2017

Durban International Film Festival The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Founded in 1979 by Teddy Sarkin and Ros Sarkin, it is the oldest and largest film festival in Africa and ...

, followed by its European premiere at the 2017 International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg where it was screened in the International Competition section. The film premiered in India at the 22nd

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

. It won the Silver Palm Award at 2018

Mexico International Film Festival Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

for

Best Narrative Feature Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

. The film was released in India on 21 September 2018. An official trailer of the film was released on 20 August 2018.

Plot

The film is an anthology of three stories from

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

, each exploring a different stage of human life. The first story is about a child, who on escaping from a rebel camp hijacks a car, transpiring in a journey that unravels her plight and probes deep into traumatic issues of children involved in armed conflicts. The next story is about a boy, a drug peddler, and his journey into the drug world. It simultaneously explores the life of his grieving mother while delving into the region that has become synonymous with the drug trade. The third story is about a man, an elephant poacher, who ends up killing fifteen elephants to fend for himself and his young wife. It explores his treacherous life and the murky powers that control this abhorrent business.

Cast

Subrat Dutta Subrata Dutta (born 16 November 1975) is an actor who appears in Indian films. He is best known for his role in Bollywood films like ''Talaash'', '' Tango Charlie'', ''Zameen'', ''The Shaukeens'', ''Rakhcharitra'', ''Bhootnath Returns'' and B ...

as Mukhtar *

Indraneil Sengupta Indraneil Sengupta is an Indian film and television actor, and a model living in Kolkata since 2004. Career Sengupta was a finalist of the 1999 Gladrags Manhunt Contest in which John Abraham was the winner. He modelled for designer Rohit Ba ...

as Anurag Dutta * Shiny Gogoi as Janice * Siddharth Boro as Donnie * Mandakini Goswami as Neelima *

Amrita Chattopadhyay Amrita Chattopadhayay is a Bengali film actress. Her debut film was Buddhadeb Dasgupta's ''Anwar ka Ajab Kissa'' After that, she acted in a number of Bengali, Hindi, and multilingual films. Early life and education Amrita did her schooling at ...

as Morjina * Vikram Gogoi as Chiru *

Bijou Thaangjam Bijou Thaangjam (born Thangjam Biju Singh) is an Indian actor, lyricist, art director, chef and entrepreneur. He is of Meitei descent originally from Imphal, Manipur. He was one of the contestants on the reality cooking competition MasterChef ...

as Drug Peddler *

Nalneesh Neel Nalneesh Neel is an Indian actor who has acted in various Bollywood and Hollywood films. He is best known for his roles in '' The White Tiger'', ''III Smoking Barrels'', ''Chhichhore'', ''Gulabo Sitabo'', '' Bhor'', ''Fukrey Returns'', '' Raees ...

as Ikram * Niloy Shankar Gupta as Dhiren * Rajni Basumatary as country bar owner

Production

The development of the film started in 2014 when Malpani Talkies came on board to produce the film which is entirely set in Northeast India. The principal photography of the film started in 2014 and ended in November 2015. During these two years all the three stories in the film were mainly filmed near the international borders of India-Bhutan, India-Bangladesh, India- Myanmar and at the famous

Manas National Park Manas may refer to: Philosophy and mythology *Manas, the Pali and Sanskrit term for "mind"; see **Manas (early Buddhism) ** Manas-vijnana, one of the eight consciousnesses taught in Yogacara Buddhism *''Ramcharitmanas'', a retelling of the Ramaya ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

and in the city of

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

Soundtrack

The background score of the film have been composed by Italian composer Michele Josia in collaboration with Indian composer Anurag Saikia. The soundtrack consists eight songs composed by various composers and sung by Papon Angarag Mahanta, Kartik Das Baul, Isheeta Chakrvarthy, Nangsan Lyngwa and Gregory Sharma. The songs were released by

Times Music Times Music, a division of The Times Group, is an Indian record label and music publisher. Headquartered in Mumbai, Times Music started operations in 1998 and has a catalogue of more than 60,000 tracks in all languages and genres. Times Music ...

. The first song "Yeh Tishnagi" in

Hindi language Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

was released on 29 August 2018. Same day an Assamese version of the same song titled "Uttorbihin" was also released. The entire album of eight songs were released on 2 September 2018. The album comprises various genres from rock to

Baul The Baul ( bn, বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism, Vaishnavism and Tantra from Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls cons ...

Borgeet Borgeets ( as, বৰগীত, lit=songs celestial, translit=Borgeet) are a collection of lyrical songs that are set to specific ragas but not necessarily to any tala. These songs, composed by Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva in the 15th ...

to Death Metal and in four different languages viz.

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and Assamese.

Festivals & Special Screening

''III Smoking Barrels'' was officially selected for screening at different International Film Festivals across the globe. * Durban International Film Festival 2017 South Africa * International Film Festival Mannheim Heildelberg 2017 ( International Competition), Germany * International Film Festival of Kerala 2017 (Indian Cinema Now) * Mexico International Film Festival 2018 * Love is Folly International Film Festival 2018 (Youth Cinema), Bulgaria * Jagran Film Festival 2018 (In Competition) * Indian Film Festival Bhubaneshwar 2018 On 14 March 2018, a special screening of the film was held at the SFX cinema in Chiang Mai,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

, with the support of Indian Consulate of Chiang Mai under its cultural exchange program. The screening was attended by Consulate Generals and Consuls of various countries like Japan, China,

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

etc. Among other dignitaries was famous Indian film director Kabir Khan.

Awards & Nominations

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt5791986 2017 films 2010s Assamese-language films Indian multilingual films Indian drama films 2017 drama films 2017 multilingual films Indian anthology films Films about insurgency in Northeast India Films shot in Assam Films set in Assam Films shot in West Bengal Films set in West Bengal