Anurag Kashyap is backing a Marathi psychological thriller that is about to meet its first audience. Gadi, the feature debut of self-taught filmmaker Rohan Pingal, will premiere at the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF), which runs from October 29 to November 1.
A Konkan father, a question of free will
The film stars Raj Sane alongside Kishore Kadam, Shirish Kulkarni, Shabnam Nad and Hadelin De Ponteves. Its story follows a grieving father in a small Konkan hamlet who is confronted by the realisation that he possesses no free will.
Pingal wrote, directed and shot the project himself. It was filmed across the Konkan region, Sangli and coastal Maharashtra, with music by Ankush Boradkar and Ameya Tanavade as executive producer. The producers are Ranjan Singh, Anurag Kashyap and Rajendra Pingal.
- Film: Gadi, a Marathi psychological thriller
- Premiere: Dharamshala International Film Festival, October 29–November 1
- Director: Rohan Pingal, feature debut
- Producers: Ranjan Singh, Anurag Kashyap, Rajendra Pingal
“It lives in silences”
Pingal said the film “asks more than it explains.” He added that it lives in silences and in what is left unsaid, and that the team wanted audiences to feel it rather than decode it.
He credited Kashyap and Ranjan Singh for never asking him to simplify the film or make it easier. “That belief gave us the freedom to make the film exactly as we felt it,” he said.
Kashyap’s backing and the festival test
Kashyap said he first met Pingal at a post lab, where the filmmaker showed him visuals he had created himself, far from established VFX studios. He described the approach as one that “challenges the filmmaking norms.”
Kashyap added that the film generates different kinds of responses. He is happy it is premiering at Dharamshala, and curious to see how the audience reacts.
For a first-time director, a festival slot is more than a screening. It is the moment when programmers, critics and buyers see the film in a room full of people, and that response can shape what happens next: a streaming pickup, a longer festival run or a theatrical conversation.
Festivals like DIFF have become useful launchpads for regional cinema that does not follow mainstream templates. They offer an audience willing to sit with slower, more philosophical material, which is harder to test in a commercial opening weekend. Kashyap’s name can bring early attention, but the film still has to hold the room on its own.
Kashyap’s involvement does not guarantee distribution, but it changes the conversation. A debut backed by a known director is more likely to be watched by programmers and trade press, which is why the Dharamshala premiere matters beyond the applause.
For Hindi cinema fans, Gadi is also a reminder that major Bollywood figures often back work in other Indian languages. It is a small film with a big philosophical question, and its first answer will come from the hills of Dharamshala.
Source: Hindustan Times