Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films released its latest short titled “The Miniaturist of Junagadh” which stars the legendary Naseeruddin Shah in the lead role and Rasika Dugal, Padmavati Rao and Raj Arjun. The movie is set in the 1947 princely state of Junagadh and tells the story of how the Partition compelled an old miniaturist artist, Husyn Naqqash played by Naseeruddin Shah, who has loses his eyesight having dedicated his life to his art, and his family to sell his ancestral home in Western India and move to Pakistan.
The beauty of the narration comes to fore when stoic and stone-hearted businessman, Kishorilal, the new homeowner played by Raj Arjun, goes through a character transformation as Husyn Naqqash’s family reveals a secret they have been harbouring from the Miniaturist maestro about his art collection. This short film is adapted from Stefan Zweig’s short story, ‘The Invisible Collection’. This movie is both a lament and a prayer of hope, as in Husyn’s final act of bridging cultures and his poignant and hopeful note of returning one day to his beloved nation and house.
It has won the Best Film award at Imagine India Film Festival award and Best Short Film and Best Director at Smita Patil International Film Festival. The movie will be first exclusively premiered on Royal Stag Barrel Select’s Large Short Films YouTube channel.
Actor Naseeruddin Shah said, “It’s important to talk about the impact of Partition on ordinary human beings and the indelible scars it has left behind.”
