Barjatyas bail ‘Buddha’ out of a ‘Jam’

Vivek Agnihotri’s controversial film Buddha In A Traffic Jam has found an unlikely helping hand in the form of support from the Barjatya family. And thanks to the Barjatya backing, things are looking brighter already for the film, which until now has been stuck in a limbo for the lack of any willing distributors. According to the filmmaker, they have already tied up with Carnival, one of the biggest names in the distribution business.

The film initially courted controversy for its politically resonating theme. But while the makers couldn’t be happier about the recent developments, what’s taken everyone by surprise is the Barjatyas’ decision to support the film, considering they are known for their social and family-oriented films that are a far cry from the turmoil of politics and ideologies that Vivek’s film represents.

Talking about this surprise support from one of the most respected film families, Vivek says, “If you really believe in something, God makes it a point to come and help you in various forms. For me it came through the Barjatyas.”

The filmmaker recounts the struggle they went through before the Barjatyas’ backing and reveals that even though Buddha in a Traffic Jam is an award-winning film, no distributor was willing to come on board. “We had no distributor, but I had announced the date. Some corporates were acting too pricey and some others were talking as if they were doing a favour to a small film. There were even others who backed out at the last minute due to the controversial nature of the film.”

As for how the Barjatyas got involved, Vivek says that after the film’s ‘historical’ screening at Jawaharlal Nehru University recently, he got a call from a friend who said that the Barjatya family was interested in seeing the film at their private studio at Rajshree. “Our film has an extreme tone and I was really surprised to hear that the Barjatyas were interested. When I screened the film, the entire family was present and I actually apologised to them for the extreme content of the film. But to my surprise, the family, which is of course very cinema-savvy, loved the film,” the filmmaker shares.

Elaborating further, he says, “Sooraj (Barjatya) told me how full of power the film was and how his wife was impacted by our teasers. That’s when they decided to help the film. Sooraj said he will do whatever he can for the film and the next morning we got a call. They facilitated the distribution for us and in the next half-hour I was sitting with one of the senior-most distribution experts, Ashok Ahuja, at Carnival’s office. I am so happy to tie up with Carnival and I owe it to the Barjatya family for their support.”

The film revolves around the internal conflict of an aspiring student and the perpetual tug-of-war between the capitalistic and socialistic schools of thought within and outside the establishments and is set to release on May 13. The cast of Buddha In A Traffic Jam includes Arunoday Singh, Mahie Gill, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi and Anchal Dwivedi. The film premiered at the 2014 Mumbai International Film Festival and has been showcased at other festivals too.