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A semi-finalist in the Foreign Narrative category of the 43rd Annual Student Academy Awards, the film has also bagged several prestigious awards at renowned film festivals across the globe.

Interesting narratives, gripping storytelling and engaging scripts are the hallmark of SonyLIV, SPN's digital entertainment platform catering to audiences across genres. Continuing its endeavour to stay at the forefront of offering rich and exclusive content to its viewers, the platform is now presenting the movie- Kathakaar to its audiences. The film, conceptualized by the talented students from Whistling Woods International (WWI) was also one of the semi-finalists in the Foreign Narrative Category at 43rd Annual Student Academy Awards. The film is in line with SonyLIV association with the film division of Whistling Woods International, which is one of the world's leading films, communication and media arts schools and its digital venture, Connect1.

Renowned actor and lyricist Piyush Mishra plays the lead in the short film. 'Kathakaar' is the story of Prakash, an old theatre projectionist who loses his job owing to changing technology and goes back to his native village. Depressed with this sudden loss of job, he struggles to figure out what to do with his life. After he succeeds in making a crying child laugh with his storytelling skills, he gathers his confidence, takes a chance to become a storyteller for the entire village, thereby rediscovering his passion. The narrative of Kathakaar, welcomes this new beginning in the life of Prakash.

Talking about Kathakaar, the renowned film and theatre actor, singer and lyricist Piyush Mishra said, "With Kathakaar, I went purely with my gut feeling. I reject a lot of scripts, but there was an X Factor about this one. I also had a question in mind as to how so much could be projected in such a short time span of 10 minutes. As an actor, the character I play grabbed my interest. Having said that, I had no clue that the film would be so well made, and would go on to do so well."

The film has so far won 13 awards, including 3 international awards and has been officially selected at 26 film festivals across the globe. Amongst international honors', the film has bagged awards at renowned film festivals such as the 5th Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival, 5th Washington D.C. South Asian Film Festival, Washington D.C., II International Motivational Film Festival, Russia and 6th Jagran Film Festival, Mumbai. The film is directed by Abhimanyu Kanodia, produced by Shraddha Singh and Naveed M, captured by Mitesh Parvatneni, edited by Pavi Trehan and sound designed by Kunal Lolsure. Abhimanyu has also written and directed other successful short films, such as Jangle Bells and Queen of Hearts that were released on YouTube last year.

"We are delighted to showcase Kathakaar exclusively on our platform. The narrative is powerfully evocative and we hope our viewers will enjoy watching it. Through our association with the film division of Whistling Woods International, we aim to present more exclusive and riveting entertainment to our viewers in the near future", commented Uday Sodhi, EVP and Head - Digital Business, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN)