San Francisco, CA, Release: September 1, 2021. For Immediate Release
From the award winning director Vijit Sharma who last helmed the theatrically released and critically acclaimed Mirror Game, comes the film Tandoori Turkey. The upcoming feature-length film will be a family comedy set in suburban New Jersey. The film is co-produced by Icelerate Films and Festyv Films. The film will be a continuation of the overseas content market that Eros created with Metro Park and is targeted at the Indian streaming audience in India, US, UK, UAE who love to watch diaspora content, like Indian Matchmaking and The Big Day etc. The film also targets non-Indian audiences with the use of English language.
The film takes a humorous look at the lives of Ram and Sunaina, an affluent first generation Indian American couple born and raised in the backstreets of Delhi who invite family over for their annual Thanksgiving feast. As family and friends arrive throughout the day and mingle, their stories intertwine and secrets begin to unravel.
“Like many recent immigrants, I came to this country from my native India and made it my home, raised a family, found success,” says director Sharma. “And my experience is not very dissimilar from the scores of other first generation immigrants.”
“When I started writing this film, I wanted to capture my own experiences but take it a step further by calling out the stereotypes associated with being a first generation immigrant,” he continues. “And I wanted it to be light, with a lot of humor, something that is completely outside of my comfort zone. I wanted to challenge myself as a writer, and there can’t be a better challenge than writing a comedy.”
The rich tapestry of characters include Ram’s brother Lakhan is visiting with his boyfriend but hasn’t come out to the family. Sunaina’s sister Vanya is planning her upcoming wedding, but hasn’t been able to come to terms with it. Ram and Lakhan’s mother, Rukmani who is visiting from India standouts with her own bag full of quirks. Ram’s business partner Ajay wants out of the business. Ram and Sunaina’s kids have yet another run-in with the neighborhood bullies. All this with the backdrop of a Tandoori Turkey cooking in the oven.
Tandoori Turkey is a co-production of Festyv Films and Icelerate Films.
“We have complete confidence in Vijit’s abilities as a storyteller,” says Ekta Ahuja, Founder of Festyv Films. “His craft and his view of the world through the lens of a camera always makes for compelling content”.
“We are not in this to make money, we love good content, we want people to experience a film and feel satiated when the credits roll,” says Rahula Kochar, CEO of Icelerate Films. “And Vijit is able to do just that through his films, so for us this was a no brainer.”
The film will be a direct-to-streaming release. The film’s positioning has been purposely done to attract the urban consumers with an appetite for OTT content.