I Am (2010 Indian

film)

I Am is a 2010 Indian anthology film by

Onir. It consists of four short films: "Omar",
"Afia", "Abhimanyu", and "Megha". Each
film shares the common theme of fear,
and each film is based on real-life stories.
The film was financed by donations from
more than 400 different people around the
world,[4] many of whom donated through
social networking sites like Facebook.[5]
There are four stories but the characters
are interwoven with each story.
"Abhimanyu" is based on child abuse,
"Omar" on gay rights, "Megha" is about
Kashmiri Pandits and "Afia" deals with
sperm donation. I Am was released with
subtitles in all regions as six different
languages are spoken in the film: Hindi,
English, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and
Kashmiri.[6][7]
 I Am

Theatrical release poster

Directed by Onir

Produced by Sanjay Suri

Onir
Rajesh Kumar Jain
(Co Producer)[1]

Screenplay by Onir
Urmi Juvekar
Merle Kroeger

Story by Onir
Urmi Juvekar
Merle Kroeger
Starring Juhi Chawla
Manisha Koirala
Rahul Bose
Nandita Das
Arjun Mathur
Pooja gandhi
Sanjay Suri
Anurag Basu
Purab Kohli
Shernaz Patel
Radhika Apte
Manav Kaul
Abhimanyu Singh

Music by Amit Trivedi

Vivek Phillip
Rajiv Bhalla

Cinematography Arvind Kannabiran

 g p y

Edited by Onir
Irene Dhar Malik

Distributed by Anticlock Films

Release date 18 September 2010 (I
View Film Festival)[2]
29 April 2011
(India)[3]
Running time 110 minutes

Country India

Language Hindi

Plot
"Afia" - A single woman Afiaa (Nandita
Das) decides to become a mother using
a sperm donor. She is a web designer by
profession. She had been pushing her
husband Manav (Manav Kaul) for a child
but Manav leaves her because he loves
some other girl. She then decides to
have a kid on her own, through a test
tube baby. She visits a Doctor Basu's
(Anurag Basu) clinic and asks the doctor
to provide her more details of the Donor.
She meets Suraj (Purab Kohli) and asks
him few questions wherein Suraj feels
awkward. Later, she goes ahead with the
sperm donation and test tube baby and
offers Suraj some reward as thank you
gift. Suraj politely declines but hands her
over his phone number. In last scene,
they show a smiling Afiaa tearing the
note on which Suraj's phone number
was written.[8]
"Megha" - Almost 20 years after leaving
Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandit Megha (Juhi
Chawla) returns home on a business trip
to find her childhood Muslim friend
Rubina (Manisha Koirala) has suffered
too.[9] "Megha" is inspired by Sanjay
Suri's real life experiences in Kashmir.[10]
"Abhimanyu" - Abhimanyu (Sanjay Suri),
a successful director, is haunted by
memories of sexual abuse as a child.[11]
He must deal with his dark memories
even as he struggles with his sexual
identity. "Abhimanyu" is based on the
experiences of fashion designer Ganesh
Nallari and gay rights activist Harish
Iyer.[12]
"Omar" - Omar, from Bangalore, (Rahul
Bose) meets Jai, a struggling actor in
Mumbai, (Arjun Mathur). They flirt and
have dinner together and then have sex
at a public place. A policeman
(Abhimanyu Singh) comes and
manhandles them both and threatens
Jai to turn him in under Section 377 of
the Indian Penal Code and blackmails
into giving 100,000 Rupees as bribe.
Omar goes with Jai's ATM card to draw
money, meanwhile the policeman rapes
Jai. Omar returns with 50,000 Rupees,
which the policeman takes along with
both Jai and Omar's cellphones. Then he
takes Omar along with him against
protests of Jai (A hint of the policeman
intenting to rape Omar). Later on Jai
meets Omar again in a hotel and tell him
that later that night, Jai had gone and
woke up a big lawyer and went with him
to the police station to get Omar
released only to find that Omar was
never there and then he realized that
Omar was a part of setup to extort
money from Jai.[13][14] "Omar" is inspired
 by stories and research material
provided by the online portal Gay
Bombay.

Cast

Afia …

Nandita Das as Afiaa

Purab Kohli as Suraj
Anurag Basu as Doctor Basu
Manav Kaul as Manav in a special
appearance

Megha …

Juhi Chawla as Megha

Manisha Koirala as Rubina
 Rushad Rana as Rubina's brother
Madhu Sagar as Ami (Rubina's mother)
Behram Rana as Abu (Rubina's father)
Faisal Burza as the lawyer
Fayeem Shah as Rubina's cousin
Mushtaq Kak as Beig Shab (shop
keeper)

Abhimanyu …

Sanjay Suri as Abhimanyu

Radhika Apte as Natasha/Nats
Shernaz Patel as Asha (mother)
Anurag Kashyap as Vinay (step-father)
Pooja Gandhi as Aparna
Omar …

Rahul Bose as Jai

Arjun Mathur as Omar
Abhimanyu Singh as Policeman

Production
Onir first developed an idea for a short film
while in Berlin, Germany. He later decided
to make four shorts as he had too many
ideas to fit into only one film.[15]
"Abhinmanyu" was originally written as a
full-length film starring Karisma Kapoor in
her comeback, but after she pulled out
Onir changed the main character to a male
and turned it into a short film.[16] The
shorts were shot on location in Srinagar
("Megha"), Mumbai ("Omar"), Bangalore
("Abhimanyu") and Kolkata ("Afia"). The
"Afia" segment was originally intended to
explore corruption in NGOs, but Onir
decided to focus on sperm donation
instead. During location shooting in
Srinagar for the "Megha" segment, the
crew was attacked by rocks and received
terror threats and had to shift to Karan
Nagar. Onir returned later under the guise
of a documentary filmmaker to capture
additional footage.[17]

Sponsorships through social media …

Onir raised financing from not only the
film's stars, but also from members of the
general public from around the world.
Using Twitter and Facebook, Onir offered
backers co-production credit in the film
and a share in the profits. People who
donated more than Rs.100,000 became
co-producers with a share in profits while
those who contributed less than
Rs.100,000 received a mention in the
credits. People have sent their
contributions from Austria, the US, Nigeria
and Australia.[18]I Am is the first
mainstream Hindi film that is crowd-
sourced through social networking sites.
Over 400 people from 45 cities across the
world made this film happen by
volunteering or contributing financially.[13]

Celebrity contribution …

Many of the participants in the film worked

for free; Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala and
Anurag Kashyap did not draw salaries and
Manish Malhotra designed the film's
costumes for free.[19] Fashion designers
like Manish Arora and Aki Narula have
made costumes available for free, while
actors and his friends Juhi Chawla and
Sanjay Suri, and director Anurag Kashyap
have supported him with ideas.[20] Juhi
Chawla and Purab Kohli also financially
contributed to the stories in the movie.[21]

Release
I Am had its world premiere at the I View
Film Festival in New York City. It screened
at several other film festivals like the
International Film Festival of Kerala and
the Vancouver International Film
Festival.[22][23]I Am was originally
scheduled for theatrical release in India
and Australia on 22 April 2011, but Onir
changed it to 29 April.[3] To promote the
release of the film, Onir has started a
script writing contest where the authors of
the 10 best scripts will win a meeting with
him to pitch their screenplays.[24][25] I Am
will have a staggered release
internationally beginning in New Zealand,
and then moving to the US, Canada and
Europe.[26]

Home media …

The DVD of I Am released on 31 May.

Reception

Critical response …
I Am received mainly positive reviews from
critics. The Times of India called it "an
important and intelligent film"[27] and The
Film Street Journal named it "a must
watch".[28] Taran Adarsh gave the film
three and a half stars and named it "a
motion picture of major significance" and
"a landmark film".[29] Rajeev Masand
praised I Am for "fine performances and its
inherent honesty".[30] Critics particularly
praised Abhimanyu Singh and Nandita Das
for their performances.[30][31][32] On the
other hand, Shilpa Jamkhandikar of
Reuters called I Am "painfully rehearsed"
and "oversimplified".[33]
Box office …

In its opening weekend I Am released on

67 screens in India and 7 in Australia, but
failed to make an impact at the box
office.[34] It was fourth in overall weekend
collections, ranking ahead of only
Zokkomon. The Times of India blamed the
poor collections on the film's depiction of
social issues, saying it was "restricted only
to discerning audience".[35]

Soundtrack
 I Am
Soundtrack album by Amit Trivedi, Rajiv
Bhalla, Vivek Phillip

Released 8 April 2011

Genre Film soundtrack

Length 39:31

Label Sony Music

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating

Bollywood Hungama link

The soundtrack for I Am was released on 8

April 2011 on Sony Music. The songs are
composed by Amit Trivedi, Rajiv Bhalla
and Vivek Phillip with lyrics by Amitabh
Verma and Amitabh Bhattacharya.
No. Title Music Artist(s) Length
1. "Baangur" Amit Mame Khan, 4:32
Trivedi Kavita Seth
2. "Issi Baat Amit Krishnakumar 4:23
Pe" Trivedi Kunnath
3. "Bhojhal Rajiv Krishnakumar 4:49
Se" Bhalla Kunnath
4. "Aankhein"Vivek Karthik 4:24
Phillip
5. "Saye Amit Rekha 5:08
Saye" Trivedi Bhardwaj,
Mohan
6. "Wundoo Rajiv Rajiv Bhalla 3:53
Yeredoo" Bhalla
7. "Bhojhal Rajiv Krishnakumar 4:21
 Se" (Remix) Bhalla Kunnath
8. "Issi Baat Amit Krishnakumar 2:58
Pe" (The Trivedi Kunnath
Bombay
Bounce
Club Mix)
9. "Baangur" Amit Mame Khan, 4:24
(Remix) Trivedi Kavita Seth

Accolades
In 2012 I Am won the National Award for
Best Hindi Film and Best Lyrics.[36]
The cast of I Am at the 2011 Mumbai Queer Film
Festival where the film won Best Narrative Feature.

Left to right: Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla, Onir, Arjun

Mathur, Rahul Bose.

The scripts for "Abhimanyu" and "Omar"[37]

were nominated for Triangle Media Group
(TMG) Global Awards.[38] I Am also won
the Audience Award at the 2010 River to
River. Florence Indian Film Festival, the
Best Asian Film Award at the International
Film Festival of Kerala,[39] and the I-VIEW
Film Festival's Engendered Award for
Human Rights.

Triangle Media Group's David Flint

Honorary Award for Promoting Human
Rights The Triangle Media Group,
Biennial Global Awards felicitated
Sanjay Suri and Onir for their upcoming
film I Am. The award was for Media for
Social Justice. Onir was in Nottingham
to receive the award from Lord Mayor of
Nottingham Jeannie Packer and Vernon
Coaker, MP Minister of State for
Schools and Learners.
Year Award

2010 NETPAC Award for the Best in Asian Cinema at the International Film Festival of Kerala

2010 Special Mention by the International Jury at the International Film Festival of Kerala

2010 The Engendered Award for Human Rights at the IView Film Festival

Audience Choice Award for Best Film at the River to River. Florence Indian Film
2010
Festival[40]

2010 Sanjay Suri and Onir, Media for Social Justice Award at the Biennial Global Awards

2011 Best Film Award at the London Asian Film Festival[41]

2011 Juhi Chawla, Best Actress Award at the London Asian Film Festival[42]

2011 Best Narrative Feature Film at the Kashish-Mumbai Queer Film Festival[43]

2011 Onir, Best Director Award at Dainik Jagran Film Festival, New Delhi[44]

2012 Onir, Best Director Award at IRDS Film awards for social concern[45]

2012 Filmfare Best Supporting Actress-Juhi Chawla-Nominated

2012 Asiavision Movie Awards-Juhi Chawla-Excellence in Hindi Cinema Award[46]

2012 Asiavision Movie Awards-Onir-Excellence in Hindi Cinema-Creative[46]

Official Selection
Year Film Festival

2010 Winner of I-View 2010s Engendered Award for Outstanding Contribution (Opening Film)

2010 Vancouver International Film Festival (Canadian Premiere)

2010 International Film Festival of Kerala

2010 Hamburg QIFF

2010 River to River Film Festival, Florence (Audience Choice Award, Best Film)

2010 Chennai International Film Festival

2010 Guggenheim Berlin

2011 Kandy International Film Festival, Sri Lanka

2011 Durban International Film Festival

2011 Human Rights Film Festival, Syracuse, New York

I Am has also been opening or a closing
film for the following festivals

Opening Film London Asian Film

Festival, 2011
Closing Film Australian Indian Film
Festival, 2011
Opening Film New Zealand Indian Film
Festival, 2011
Opening The Silk Screen Film Festival,
Pittsburgh (US), 2011
Closing Film Seattle South Asian Film
Festival, 2011

References
1. "EPCH elects leading exporter and film
 producer Rajesh Kumar Jain as its
Vice-Chairman" . India Infoline. 10
November 2014.
2. Datta, Pulkit (23 September 2010). "I-
View Film 2011; Premieres of 'Bhutto'
and 'I Am' " . NRI Magazine. Archived
from the original on 24 November
2010. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
3. "Onir postpones 'I AM' release to April
29" . Times of India. 8 April 2011.
4. Mehul Satish Thakkar (19 June 2010).
"Believe it or not, 600 co-producers for
a film!" . IBNLive.
5. Manali Shah (5 August 2010). "Onir
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 Hindustan Times. Archived from the
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6. Adarsh, Taran (15 March 2011).
"Reasons why 'I Am' will be released
with sub-titles in India" . Bollywood
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Kashmiri Pandits: Juhi" . Indian
 Express. 20 December 2009.
10. Kumar, Sunaina (2 April 2011). "I Am,
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"New film to open dialogue on taboo
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14. "Mira Nair impressed with I Am" . MiD
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19. Soumyadipta Banerjee (17 August
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how!" . Rediff. 18 April 2011. Retrieved
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CNN-IBN. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
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 2011.
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 Glamsham. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
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External links
Official website
I Am on IMDb

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