Artsploitation Films said Thursday it plans to release "Gandu" — a film banned in its native India — for North American audiences later this year.
Directed by Bengali filmmaker Kaushik "Q" Mukherjee, the indie — the title of which is Hindi slang for "asshole" — follows an impoverished young man through his "deliriously frantic, music-infused" dreams of becoming a rap star.
"When I started the label, I wasn't sure exactly what kinds of titles I'd try to acquire. Then I saw 'Gandu,'" Raymond Murray, Artsploitation's president, said in a statement. "I left the theater thinking this is exactly the kind of film Artsploitation should champion: edgy, strange, exciting, sexy and controversial. It's international, it's drama, it's an art film, it's a hyperventilating genre film."
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"Gandu" will be released on DVD and video on demand on Dec. 11.
The filmmaker, who goes by Q, earned the award for Best New Director at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival, and "Gandu" has been screened around the world. It premiered in 2010 at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York City, where it won the runner-up Jury Award for Best Film.