The first installment of the world’s only Animal Lover Vigilante universe, “Lakadbaggha-1,” is the only action movie to be selected for the 20th Stuttgart Film Festival in Germany. Among many other treasures, the festival will also feature the Indian documentary “All That Breathes,” which received an Oscar nomination.
Anshuman Jha, Ridhi Dogra, and Milind Soman star in Lakadbaggha (Hyena), an action film about protecting independent dogs and animals in general that is set in Kolkata. It made waves earlier this year with its theatrical release after premiering at the Kolkata International Film Festival in December of last year and winning the Best Actor Award for Jha at the HBO South Asian Film Festival in New York. The film’s action has received universal acclaim for its realism and its convincing hand-to-hand combat sequences. Jha received Krav-Maga instruction from Tsahi Shemesh in New York (who has also coached the Avengers cast in the past), while Kecha Kamphakdee, the cult action master of “Ong-Bak,” provided the film’s action. At the end of this year, production on the film’s sequel, which is being scripted by Sourav Ghosh, will begin.
A prominent OTT platform (Zee5) will shortly hold its digital premiere, and the platform and Anshuman shared the announcement video with Jha on June 5th in honor of World Environment Day on their social media accounts.
For the festival, Anshuman & Ridhi are expected to travel to Germany. Jha stated, “We are pleased and thrilled that our love letter to dogs is conquering the language barrier and will find an audience in Germany. I’m glad that the festival is giving a voice to those who have no voice because animal trafficking and cruelty are serious environmental issues. This is a boost as we get ready for a huge Part 2. We are grateful to the Stuttgart selection committee and thrilled to be attending our European Premiere there.
