Acclaimed Indian star Irrfan Khan (Jurassic World, Life of Pi) is set to star in No Bed of Roses, a Bengali-English language film directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.
Farooki told Variety that No Bed of Roses is a “family story of loss and regain.”
Life can be unkind at times, but death is a great equalizer which restores love, honor and compassion. In this story, the members of two families discover the finer fabric of love when the headman of a family dies. Death doesn’t always take things away, sometimes it gives back.
The Bangladeshi director is part of Chabial, an avant-garde filmmakers’ movement in Bangladesh. Farooki’s 2012 feature Television was the closing film of the 2012 Busan International Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
Praising Farooki, Khan said, “When I saw Mostofa’s film Ant Story it immediately got me interested. I was impressed with his approach, style and the way he unravels the story. (Farooki’s) works carry a strong humane angle, which is why his characters are multi layered.”
The title reunites Farooki and actress Nusrat Imroz Tisha, who worked together on Television and 2009’s Third Person Singular. Also in the cast are Parno Mitra (X: Past Is Present) and Rokeya Prachy (The Clay Bird).
Bangaldesh’s Jaaz Multimedia (Detective), India’s Eskay Movies (Romeo vs. Juliet), and Khan’s IK Company will co-produce. Jaaz will distribute in Bangladesh.
Khan was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his role in Mira Nair’s The Namesake. He won the SAG award as part of the Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, which went on to win 8 Oscars including Best Film and Best Director. He played the adult Pi in 2012’s Life of Pi for which director Ang Lee won on Oscar. Khan turned in a moving performance as Sunil in 7 episodes of HBO’s In Treatment opposite Gabriel Byrne (Louder Than Bombs). His other films include New York I Love You, A Mighty Heart, The Darjeeling Limited, The Amazing Spider-Man, and last year’s blockbuster hit, Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World. An upcoming project is Ron Howard’s inferno which sees star Tom Hanks reprising his role as Robert Langdon in a sequel to The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, based on Dan Brown’s best selling novels.
Principal photography on No Bed of Roses will start in late March in Bangladesh.