Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 2, 2018)

Rajkummar Rao’s Indo-American film, 5 Weddings, which features him as officer Harbhajan Singh assigned to an American-India journalist travelling through India, is set for a world premiere at the 71st Cannes Film Festival. “We are thrilled!” exulted US-based director Namrata Singh Gujral. “This will be the first time an audience will watch the film so it is exciting but also nerve-wracking.”

Namrata had planned the film with Punjabi star Harbhajan Mann in 2008 but had to put it on the backburner after she was diagnosed with cancer. After 10 years, she revived it with Rajkummar and Nargis Fakhri. Hollywood actresses Anneliese Van der Pol, Bo Derek and Candy Clark play supporting roles.

“The film is a colourful mosaic of lost loves, transgender tangles and culture clashes along the heartfelt journey of life, symbolised by the universal ups and downs of a wedding celebration,” explained Namrata, who shot the film in and around Chandigarh as well as in Hollywood and Burbank, among other parts of Los Angeles.

It is expected to open in India in the second half of the year. In an earlier interview with Mirror (August 29, 2016) Rajkummar had informed, “Namrata had seen my previous work and offered me the role of a cynical cop. The film also talks about life and death, lost love, transgender tangles, cultural clashes and even politics.”