“Rehmat,” directed by Gurvinder Singh, has been selected for the main competition section of the 79th Locarno Film Festival, marking the only Indian feature in the Concorso Internazionale this year. The film will vie for the festival’s top award, the Pardo d’Oro.
The narrative, adapted from short stories by Punjabi writer Ajeet Cour, weaves three interconnected stories set in contemporary Punjab centered on displacement and inherited grief. Singh drew inspiration from Cour’s explorations of uprootedness, connecting the material to his family history and his grandparents’ migration from Lahore and other western Punjab regions to Delhi. Singh notes that creating the film has provided him a form of closure regarding trauma he experienced during periods of militancy and communal violence, despite not directly experiencing the Partition.
Naseeruddin Shah anchors the cast as Rashid Ali, a Punjabi Muslim man who returns to his birthplace after spending a lifetime in England. Shah committed to the role based on his admiration for Singh’s previous work and cinematic vision. Singh approached Shah before finalizing the script, using only a rough character outline, allowing the actor’s involvement to inform the character’s development. Shah observed that while he is not Punjabi and does not speak the language fluently, this outsider quality actually strengthened his portrayal of Rashid. Singh described observing Shah’s naturalistic performance choices involving body language and gesture work, requiring minimal directorial intervention.
The production was shaped by a village location that featured a deteriorating 19th-century school building and abandoned lanes. Singh’s signature filmmaking technique employs long, unbroken takes to create a sense of uninterrupted time. The supporting cast includes Suvinder Vicky, Mita Vashisht, Navjot Randhawa, and Diya Kamboj, alongside celebrated Punjabi poet Jaswant Zafar making his acting debut at age 60. Singh characterized the film as a co-production between India’s Vahao Studio and Paris-based Pavo Films, the latter launched earlier this year with “Rehmat” as its inaugural project.
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