Rajiv Kumar

Press

This article was published on the 5th of january in the Rajasthani Daily State newspaper "Rajasthan Patrika".

THE BEST FILM COMES OUT OF THE PINK CITY IN THIS MANNER

The film "Rajiv Kumar" that was shot in Jaipur, has been felicitated as the best film in Dakar Film Festival in the foreign category.

French filmmaker Michel Kummer had come to India to make a movie on an indian subject. He came down to Jaipur to do that.
He was looking out for the cast, going by the script he met an 87 y/o man, but it didn't work out.
At Jawahar Kala Kendra he noticed Sabir Khan ; he leaped forward and said "this is the actor I'm looking for."
When young actor Aalok Pareekh gave Kummer more details about Sabir Khan, he was further more impressed. Kummer requested Sabir to act in his film. Sabir agreed and the shooting began in a hut near Amer. Next shooting was carried out in the ghats of Halmala.
The 17 minute film named "Rajiv Kumar" was completed in Jaipur. This was done three year ago. The current news is, after receiving accolades at several international film festivals, this movie has also been felicitated as the Best Movie in the Foreign Category at the Dakar Film Festival.
The protagonist of the movie, Sabir Khan, was quite surprised when he received the mail from Kummer informing of this achievement. Sabir also says that Kummer was in constant touch with him, and will also inform him of the appreciation that the film was earning at the rebelfest Film Festival at Toronto.

To look out for the protagonist, Michel Kummer, would often take rounds of Coffee Houses in Jaipur. Mickael says that the minute he set his eyes on Sabir Khan he knew he was the man he was looking out for to cast in his movie. The film story revolves around loneliness. It's about a man, named Rajiv Kumar, who is a renowned writer of his times, and because of writing against the governement, he has been put behind bars. He managed to escape for a little while for England and France. When there was a change in the governement, he returned to India. He realised that even his closest friends were writing against him in the press. He was hurt and he left everything and went away. Eventually he also got to know that he was suffering from cancer. In spite of his son's several tries to placate him nothing seemed to get Rajiv back to normal.
This movie that has been shot in and around Jaipur, has received a lot of accolades and appreciation at various film festivals. Michel has been attracted to making movies on Indian issues. He was born in India. Before this movie, Michel has also made a lot of documentaries, Sabir Khan also claims that Michel has been thinking of making a movie by the name "Priyadarshani", and had been considering to cast him yet again.