Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 20, 2015)

Gitanjali Rao, whose debut animation short, Printed Rainbow, won several awards at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, is now ready with the script of her first full-length feature, a 2D animated film titled Bombay Rose.

"It's a love story which blossoms on the streets of Mumbai, between a Kashmiri boy, Salim, and a bar dancer, Kamla. It is set in 2005, when the girl is forced into prostitution following the ban on dance bars," says Rao, who began working on the script in 2013. She admits that the story has completely changed from the first draft, the only constant being the characters. The plight of bar dancers isn't the only issue Gitanjali tackles in her film though. Clearly inspired by one of the most high profile hit-and-run cases in recent times, Salim meets with an accident that involves the car of his favourite (fictional) Bollywood star. "It raises questions on the safety of street-dwellers and how responsible the film industry is in general. I hope I've been able to convey the message effectively," she says.

So what's the connection between the film's narrative and its title? "The boy gives a rose to the girl every evening, which he steals from the grave of an old woman's lover, located in the city's St Andrew's church graveyard," she reveals.

When asked if she will be working with actors in her future projects, Gitanjali insists that she has stayed away from big names since she started making films. "In fact, I was supposed to make an animated film for a big production house but I didn't like the script so I walked out," she reveals.

The 75-minute feature is now set to be pitched to producers at the NFDC Film Bazaar Co-Production Market at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa next month. "I already have a French producer on board and I am now looking to collaborate with more local and international producers; hopefully the film will go into production from January, 2016," she says. "It takes two-and-a-half to three years to make an animated film, so it's too early for me to comment on the release date."