| English, August | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Dev Benegal |
| Screenplay by | Dev Benegal |
| Based on | English, August by Upamanyu Chatterjee |
| Produced by | Anuradha Parikh |
| Starring | Rahul Bose Tanvi Azmi Mita Vashisht Shivaji Satam |
| Cinematography | Anoop Jotwani K. U. Mohanan |
| Edited by | Dev Benegal Allyson C. Johnson |
| Music by | D. Wood Vikram Joglekar |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
English, August is a 1994 Indian English-language black comedy film and director Dev Benegal's first feature film. A humorous and irreverent study of bureaucracy and the Indian Generation X, English, August won several awards at international film festivals.
English, August became the first Indian independent film to break the stranglehold of mainstream Indian Bollywood cinema when it was acquired by 20th Century Fox and became a theatrical success in the country. This has led the way for other low budget, independent movies such as Bombay Boys and Split Wide Open, which are part of the next generation of "middle cinema".[1]
The film is based on the novel of the same name by Upamanyu Chatterjee.[2]
The negatives of the film were spoiled due to flooding at a storage facility of Prasad Studios. There was an unsuccessful attempt at restoration,[3][4] following which the film was declared a lost film.
In February 2020, a copy of the film was found in the National Film Archives of India. Since the film reel is a 35 mm print, the restoration process has begun.[5] However, restoration was brought to a halt in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[citation needed]
- ^ Ciecko, Anne Tereska; Alexander, Vera (2006). Contemporary Asian Cinema: popular culture in a global frame. Berg Publishers. p. 138. ISBN 1-84520-237-6.
- ^ Ghosh-Schellhorn, Martina (2006). Peripheral centres, central peripheries: India and its diaspora(s). LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münste. p. 104. ISBN 3-8258-9210-7.
- ^ "English, August". Dev Benegal. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ "English, August turns 30: A look at Upamanyu Chatterjee's book and the movie adaptation that wasn't". Firstpost. 22 May 2018. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Dev Benegal [@benegal] (12 February 2020). "A clean (no subtitles) 35mm Print of "English, August" is discovered at the National Film Archives. And it's in a good condition. @shividungarpur and the NFAI team inspect the print. Let the Restoration Begin! #EnglishAugust" (Tweet) – via Twitter.