Actor-director Hemwant Tiwari — whose first short film Zindagi Bahut Khoobsurat Hai made it to Cannes in 2013 — hits the streets of Mumbai dressed as a fox every morning for the promotions of his upcoming film LOMAD, touted as the world’s first single-take black-and-white movie.
For promotions, Hemwant visits crowded places like metro stations, malls and popular beaches, trying to inform people about the concept of a single-take film and why they should watch it in a theatre.
“At the end of the day, it all depends on the resources you have. Those who have money to spend, organise trailer launch events and PR campaigns, but for independent filmmakers like me, it is not easy to draw the attention of viewers due to financial constraints,” said the 32-year-old.
In the past one month, he has landed in police lockup, been thrown out of malls and escorted out of metro stations in Mumbai for his unconventional approach towards promoting his film. But these ordeals did not deter him from continuing his unique promotions for LOMAD — a film that has bagged over 20 international awards, including the best film at Santa Monica Film Festival and best director at Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival.
“I invested almost everything I had in making the film. And now that it is set to hit theatres, I am making sure that people at least know about the movie. This is the best idea that I could come up with. Lomad means fox, so I decided to dress up like a fox for promoting my film,” added Hemwant, who claims to have reached over 7,000 people personally in his month-long campaign.
Set to hit theatres on August 4, LOMAD follows the story of a boy and a girl who reunite via social media over a decade after passing out from the same school. But the two are forced to make life-changing decisions after they meet.
But what makes LOMAD special? It is the first-ever single-take film shot at 48 fps, claims Hemwant. “Now, as I can't stop the camera in a single-take film to make the changes, I shot the whole film at 48 fps. The film is in slow-motion.”
LOMAD, made in 2019, won accolades from Hollywood actor Eric Roberts, who was all praise for the film after watching it at a film festival, says Hemwant, who received a congratulatory video message from the American actor for his film.
