'Haider' wins People's Choice Award in Rome

“Haider”, a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's “Hamlet” by Vishal Bhardwaj, wins the People’s Choice Award in the Mondo Genre (world genre) at the ninth edition of Rome Film Festival.

This is for the first time that an Indian film has won the audience award in a non-specialised (non-focused on Asian cinema) wide-ranging international festival.

Out of the seven films like “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (US), “Quando Eu Era Vivo/ When I Was Alive” (Brazil) and “La Prochaine Fois Je Viserai Le Coeur/ Next Time I'll Aim For The Heart” (France), which featured under the genre, “Haider” was the only Asian film selected across the globe.

“‘Haider’ is a classic Shakespearean tale retold with Kashmir in India as its backdrop, it’s a story that we would like to take to the world and to get this award now is a proud moment for the entire team of ‘Haider’,” said Bhardwaj.

The crime drama’s stars Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor are overjoyed.

“1st festival 1st win. Too much. Wowzaaaa. People's choice in the main category at the Rome film festival... A first for an Indian film. #haider. Proud and humbled”, Shahid tweeted on Sunday.

“We WON! #Haider - the 1st Indian film to win the main category of people's choice award at Rome film festival! So humbled, grateful & proud!”, Shraddha's tweet said.

“Haider” hit the screens on Oct 2 and got rave reviews by critics worldwide. Since the word-of-mouth was strong in India, the Rs.22 crore-film did good business too. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Haider