Peddlers is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film written and directed by Vasan Bala. The film stars Gulshan Devaiah, Nishikant Kamat, Kriti Malhotra, Nimrat Kaur and Siddharth Menon. The film was screened as part of Critics' Week of 2012 Cannes Film Festival.[1]

Peddlers
Directed byVasan Bala
Screenplay byVasan Bala
Produced byAnurag Kashyap
Guneet Monga
Shahnaab Alam
StarringGulshan Devaiah
Nishikant Kamat
Kriti Malhotra
Siddharth Menon
Nimrat Kaur
CinematographySiddharth Diwan
Edited byPrerna Saigal
Music byKaran Kulkarni
Production
companies
Distributed byEros International
Release date
Running time
116 min
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Film's producer, Guneet Monga raised nearly 1 crore (US$120,000), half of film's budget of 2 crore (US$240,000) by posting the film's script on Facebook.[2]

Plot

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The film is set in Mumbai, and revolves around 20-year-old destitute boys who get trapped in the drug trade and a young cop, who tracks them.[3]

Cast

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Release

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The film was screened as part of Critics' Week of 2012 Cannes Film Festival.[4]

Eros International acquired the Indian distribution rights in May 2012.[5] However the film was not released theatrically after that, In April 2020 Vasan Bala and producer Guneet Monga took to Twitter to request Eros to release film on their streaming platform Eros Now.[6] In December 2020, Eros Now announced a slate of 33 films to be released on their platform in 2021, including Peddlers, but the film was not released in 2021.[7]

Reception

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Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Though it takes a long time coming together, the Hindi-language film does finally succeed in its action-packed last half-hour, rewarding audiences who hang on for that long."[3] Jay Weissberg of Variety called Bala a "budding talent", he further wrote that Bala has written "compelling characters (though some take too long to reach that state), and his facility with dialogue outstrips many other indie subcontinentals."[8]

References

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  1. ^ "51e selection de la Semaine de la Critique - 2012". semainedelacritique.com. Critics' Week. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  2. ^ Prachi Rege (14 December 2012). "Parallel Queen: Guneet Monga, has managed to bridge the gap between Indian films and foreign buyers and distributors". India Today. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Peddlers: Cannes Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Vasan Bala's 'Peddlers' selected for Cannes Critics' Week". India Today. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Eros picks up Cannes-nominated Peddlers". Hindustan Times. 2 May 2012. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Hope Peddlers finds legitimacy with a release: Director Vasan Bala". 9 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  7. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (11 December 2020). "Eros STX Adds 46 Films and Series to Indian Streaming Platform". Archived from the original on 2 August 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Peddlers". Variety. 22 May 2012. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
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