Indian debut feature Kabootar secures co-production partners in Norway and France at Cannes market

Indian indie drama Kabootar, the debut feature film from award-winning short filmmaker Ishan Sharma, has secured international co-production partners in both Norway and France.

The co-production partnership

Paris-based Haiku Films and Oslo-based Rein Film confirmed at Cannes that they have joined India's MDC Filmworks to produce the project. Rohit Saxena, a New Delhi-based private equity professional and first-time film producer, has also come on board.

Key creatives attached

The film has locked several significant creative collaborators. Cinematographer Udit Khurana, whose credits include Bayaan — which screened at last year's Toronto International Film Festival — will serve as director of photography. Casting director Dilip Shankar, known for his work on Life of Pi and A Suitable Boy, has also joined the project.

The film's story

Described as a detective drama, Kabootar is set amid the ruins of Old Delhi, where residents attempt to resolve their troubles by writing letters to a Djinn. A street detective secretly intercepts and reads these letters, hoping to convert the writers into potential clients.

About the production companies

Haiku Films, founded by La Femis graduates Thomas Jaeger, Antoine Delahousse, and Claire Trinquet, has credits including Fifi, which won the Grand Prize at San Sebastian in 2022, and two films directed by Julia von Heinz — And Tomorrow The Entire World, which screened at Venice, and Treasure, which played in Berlin.

Rein Film, founded by Mathis Ståle Mathisen and Aleksander Olai Korsnes, is one of Norway's leading production companies in international co-productions and Arctic filmmaking.

Recent releases include My Father's Daughter, which screened at Toronto in 2024, alongside Ciao Ráhkkis and Ski.

MDC Filmworks, founded by Nikhil Chaudhary, has previously produced five films, including Yours Truly, which premiered at Busan; Kadakh, which won Best Screenplay at Tallinn Black Nights; and Odia-language film Bindusagar.

About the director

Sharma is a graduate of India's Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute and has previously directed award-winning shorts, including The God Of Panic Street and A Season Of Mangoes.

On the film's themes, Sharma said: "Through Kabootar and its cast of characters, I want Delhi to confront its own amnesia – to remember those whose homes and histories it has struck down and struck out. This is not a film about faith. It is about what remains when institutions fail, about belief as an act of survival, and memory as a form of resistance."

What the partners say

MDC Filmworks founder Chaudhary said: "I am delighted to be associated with Haiku Films and Rein Film. I have known Ishan for over ten years, and I have always been struck by the honesty and authenticity he brings to his work.

"This marks MDC Filmworks' first international co-production and is a testament to our belief that authentic Indian stories have the power to travel across borders."

Haiku Films stated: "We are delighted to co-produce this ambitious debut feature alongside MDC Filmworks, a film that is both entertaining and deeply moving. We are equally convinced by the talent of Ishan Sharma and by the film's strong potential with French audiences.

"We also believe the film can resonate with audiences around the world, as its story powerfully combines a distinct Indian identity with a deeply universal theme, reminiscent, among others, of The Kid by Charlie Chaplin."

Rein Film added: "Kabootar resonates deeply with us. When we met Nikhil and Ishan at the EFM, there was no doubt this was a film worth fighting for."

Development and project markets

Kabootar was developed through the Production & Storytelling Workshop — formerly known as the Produire au Sud Workshop — at Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France.

It has been selected for several international project markets, including the Tasveer Film Market in Seattle, Film Bazaar organised by India's National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) in Goa, and the NFDC line-up at this year's European Film Market in Berlin.