The Lovers (2013 film)

The Lovers (previously known as Singularity, released in the UK as Time Traveller and in Belgium under the French title La Prophétie de l'anneau) is a 2013 Belgian romance time travel adventure film written and directed by Roland Joffé from a story by Ajey Jhankar. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Indian actress Bipasha Basu in her only foreign film to date, Alice Englert, Tamsin Egerton and Abhay Deol in lead roles. The film is the tale of an impossible romance set against the backdrop of the first Anglo-Maratha war across two time periods and continents and centred on four characters—a British officer in 18th century British India, the Indian woman he falls deeply in love with, and a 21st-century American marine archeologist and his wife.[2]

The Lovers
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoland Joffé
Screenplay byRoland Joffé
Story byAjey Jhankar
Produced byPaul Breuls
Guy J Louthan
Dale G Bradley
Catherine Vandeleene
StarringJosh Hartnett
Bipasha Basu
Alice Englert
Tamsin Egerton
Abhay Deol
CinematographyMichael Coulter
Ben Nott
Edited byJohn Scott
Music byDirk Brossé
Production
companies
Corsan Films
Limelight Media
Bliss Media
Neelmudra Entertainment
Distributed byCorsan World Sales
IFC Films (US)
Release dates
Running time
109 minutes
CountryBelgium
LanguageEnglish
Budget$27 million[1]

Plot

edit

In 2020, marine archeologist Jay Fennel (Josh Hartnett) is brain-dead after trying to save his wife Laura (Tamsin Egerton) who got trapped exploring the wreck of a colonial British East Indiaman. The comatose Fennel dreams about the adventures of Captain James Stewart in 1778 Pune, and his romance with a Maratha warrior Tulaja Naik (Bipasha Basu).

Cast

edit

Production

edit

The Lovers was produced by Paul Breuls' Corsan NV, Dale G. Bradley's Limelight International Media Entertainment, Wei Han's Bliss Media and co-financed by Ajey Jhankar's Neelmudra Entertainment. Sales outfit Corsan World Sales, a division of Corsan NV, is handling international sales. Previously known as The Invaders, the film was in works from the late 1990s and was due originally to feature Hollywood actors Brendan Fraser and Neve Campbell and Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vivek Oberoi.[11][12] The Anglo-Indian historical romance is Bipasha Basu's first English language film. She was encouraged to take up her international debut by actress Hilary Swank. Basu first met up with Swank at the New Seven Wonders of the World Official Declaration ceremony convened in Lisbon in 2007 and met her again at the 2011 International Indian Film Academy Awards in Toronto.[13][14] Though originally planned for shooting partly in the United Kingdom,[15] production began in Queensland, Australia, on 8 November 2010. It concluded there on the third week of December 2010.[15] The production then moved to India on 31 March 2011 for a further five weeks, roaming the rocky terrain of Chambal, Orchha and Gwalior in the state of Madhya Pradesh.[16][17] Principal photography wrapped on 23 April 2011.[18] The film was planned to premiere at the 65th annual Cannes International Film Festival in May 2012,[19][20] but in late 2011 the production company was placed in administration and all further filming was stopped when some ten percent remained.[21][22] In June 2012, Belgian-based financing and production outfit Corsan agreed to put further money into the production, and the final scenes were to be shot in London.[23] In September 2012, it was reported that the filming in London was finished, while some creditors were still waiting for payment.[24] And in May 2013, producer Paul Breuls confirmed that the film has been finally completed and aims to launch it at an autumn festival.[25]

Release

edit

A preview trailer for the film premiered on 6 December 2011 at the 11th annual Festival International du Film de Marrakech during a master class given by Roland Joffé.[26] In late April 2014, the production company Corsan announced that the film would be shown at the 67th annual Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2014 under the new name The Lovers.[27][28] The film was released on DVD in the UK as Time Traveller in 2016.[29]

References

edit
  1. ^ "John McTiernan to direct 'Shrapnel'". Variety. Pamela McClintock. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  2. ^ "Roland Joffe in India!". The Times of India. 12 August 2010. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  3. ^ "Abhay Deol back from Australia". Hindustan Times. Roshmila Bhattacharya. 17 December 2010. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  4. ^ "Abhay Deol's tryst with Hollywood". Daily Bhaskar. Sneha Mahadevan. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  5. ^ "Andrea Deck Interview". Movie-Eye. Sima Moussavian. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Josh Hartnett and Olga Kurylenko filming in Brisbane for Singularity". The Courier-Mail. Tristan Swanwick. 16 November 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Bram Stoker Horror Film Festival - Shane Briant discusses his upcoming movie project 'Singularity'". The Black Box Club. 17 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  8. ^ "It's nice to be back: Atul Kulkarni". The Times of India. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  9. ^ "Singular and Available". The Indian Express. Anjali Jhangiani. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Repeating History". Mumbai Mirror. Anjali Shetty. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  11. ^ "'The Invaders' Changed To 'Singularity'". SmasHits. 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  12. ^ "Bipasha Basu joins 'Singularity'- Roland Joffé pic also stars Josh Hartnett, Olga Kurylenko". Variety. Naman Ramachandran. 1 November 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  13. ^ "Bipasha Basu Credits Hilary Swank for her First Hollywood Film!". Desi Hits. Naina Ramrakhani. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  14. ^ "Swank Speak: Bipasha's Hollywood 'Singularity' Boost". Movie Talkies. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  15. ^ a b "Ben Nott: untangling the Notts". Screen Hub. Anne Richey. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  16. ^ "Hippie hip! Bipasha Basu on being Dum Maaro Dum's Zoe and why she's chosen to clam up about John and Rana". The Telegraph India. Pratim D. Gupta. 5 April 2011. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  17. ^ "India Calling". India Today. Priyanka Sood & Nishat Bari. 11 March 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  18. ^ "Bipasha Basu to visit the Taj Mahal with Josh Hartnett". 3D Syndication. Aakanksha Naval-Shetye. 14 May 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  19. ^ "Bips wraps up first Hollywood film". Hindustan Times. Prashant Singh. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.[dead link]
  20. ^ "Bipasha wraps up Singularity". Bolly Spice. Meera Sharma. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  21. ^ If Magazine, 16/03/2012: Singularity may be set for more filming Retrieved 2013-03-06
  22. ^ Film Business Asia: 6 March 2013: Singularity is singularly troubled Retrieved 2013-03-06
  23. ^ If Magazine, 18/06/2012: "Singularity: further filming taking place in the UK" Retrieved 2013-03-06
  24. ^ If Magazine, 21/09/2012: Singularity creditors still waiting for payment Retrieved 2013-03-06
  25. ^ "Corsan on board for Silence". ScreenDaily. Geoffrey Macnab. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  26. ^ "Best of Master Class Roland Joffé". Festival International du Film de Marrakech 2011 (in French). FIFM. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  27. ^ "The Lovers". corsanfilms.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014.
  28. ^ "The Lovers by Roland Joffé – Market screening from Corsan - Filmfestivals.com". filmfestivals.com.
  29. ^ Qateel, Nav (8 June 2016). "Time Traveller (2015) Review". Influx Magazine. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
edit