The special screening of Bhargav Saikia’s fantasy short, The Black Cat held in Mussoorie for Ruskin Bond on September 6
~The Black Cat based on Ruskin Bond’s short story features veteran actor, Tom Alter as Ruskin Bond and Shernaz Patel as an English Witch~
The special screening of Bhargav Saikia’s fantasy genre short, The Black Cat was organized for the celebrated Indian author Ruskin Bond last evening at Woodstock School, Mussoorie.
The Black Cat, an official adaptation of a short story by the celebrated Indian author, Ruskin Bond is a Fantasy genre film – a genre that is not often explored in Indian cinema.
The film features the veteran actor, Tom Alter as Ruskin Bond and Shernaz Patel as an English Witch, Miss Bellows and a black cat in the titular role.
The guests who attended the screening included Ekta Kapoor, Dr. Jonathan Long (Principal of Woodstock School), Abha Saili and Ganesh Saili, a popular author and photographer who frequently collaborates with Ruskin Bond, Rashmi and Sanjay Tandon (ITM Director), students, faculty of Woodstock School and staff members from Landour Community Hospital.
The 83-years-old author, Ruskin Bond who was present at the screening says, “I am thankful to Bhargav Saikia, for allowing me to see his adaptation of my story, The Black Cat, which he has made into a very effective 20-minute short film.”
He adds, “The film would be of great interest to school children as well as to adults and aficionados of cinema. The film is very atmospheric. Bhargav does catch the atmosphere of maybe an old fashioned hill station and the sort of characters that live there, and he brings in the supernatural and the fantastic in a subtle way and doesn’t overdo it. Overall, it’s a fine little film and I think it will lead to many other creations of his in the coming years.”
Elated with the positive response to the film, the filmmaker, Bhargav Saikia says, “I have absolutely no words to express my gratitude to Mr. Ruskin Bond for allowing me to adapt his short story, The Black Cat, into a short film. Truly a dream-come-true for me, not only as a filmmaker but also as an ardent follower of his work ever since I was a child. I have a keen interest in fantasy and horror cinema, and The Black Cat was the perfect story for me to explore these fascinating genres. The special screening for Mr. Bond at the historic Parker Hall of Woodstock School in Mussoorie was overwhelming and truly memorable. Mr. Tom Alter, who plays Mr. Bond in the film, is an alumnus of Woodstock School and Mussoorie is home to Mr. Ruskin Bond – I couldn’t have asked for a better place to host this screening for Mr. Bond. It was a very successful screening, enjoyed thoroughly by the students and the distinguished guests from Mussoorie, followed by an engaging Q&A session. Mr. Alter, unfortunately, could not join us due to ill health. I wish him a speedy recovery.”