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Madhu Chopra confirms next with Assamese director Jahnu Barua

The saying that “one language is never enough” is definitely one that Priyanka Chopra’s production house, Purple Pebble Pictures goes by. Assamese, Gujarati and Malayalam are on the list, reveals Madhu Chopra, mother of Priyanka Chopra and head of Purple Pebble Pictures.

Speaking to PTI, after the world premiere at the forty-second Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) of Purple Pebble’s Nepali language film ‘Pahuna: The Little Visitors’ (2017), Madhu Chopra said, “We are delighted that we will be working with veteran Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua next.”

Having previously produced films in Bhojpuri, Marathi and Punjabi, Purple Pebble Pictures is in the process of completing the screenplay of its first Bengali film, ‘Nalini’. This film will tell the tale of a young Rabindranath Tagore finding his first love in Maharashtra whilst staying there with his elder brother, an ICS officer, Satyendranath Tagore.

The production house was also in the process of finalising plans for films in Gujarati and Malayalam as well, confirmed Madhu Chopra.

In regards to the upcoming film with veteran Assamese filmmaker Barua, “We approached him for a collaboration with us. He asked for some time to make up his mind. He recently gave his go-ahead to the project.”

Purple Pebble Pictures has submitted the script for ‘Nalini’ to the vice-chancellor of Viswa-Bharati University for final inspection.

“The film is about a towering figure and deals with sensitive aspects of his life, so we cannot afford to slip up at all,” said Madhu Chopra.

Debutante director of ‘Pahuna: The Little Visitors’, Paakhi A Tyrewala has greatly praised Purple Pebbles for its style.

“I had the desire and confidence that I could direct a film, but the film wouldn’t have happened had they not backed me to the hilt. They are hands-on but very non-interfering,” she shared.

At the premiere of ‘Pahuna: The Little Visitors’, Tyrewala revealed how many of the film producers in Mumbai had rejected her script. A female, debutanete director wanting to make a children’s film set in Sikkim. Nobody saw any potential in the project until she approached Priyanka Chopra.

Tyrewala went onto say that Priyanka Chopra “said she would back my film for the very reasons that the others had rejected it.”

‘Pahuna’ tells the tale of three children separated from their parents as they flee political turmoil in Nepal. They reach Sikkim and tackle their fears and reservations with childlike innocence, optimism and persistence.