Just how far would you go to make your child a genius? Kaushik Roy's first feature film, Apna Asmaan, (My Own Sky), examines the plight of a family faced with that burning question.

Ravi (Irrfan Khan) and Padmini’s (Shobana) marriage has become increasingly strained as a result of their teenage son Buddhi's intellectual handicap and the unrealistic expectations that most parents thrust upon their children. Buddhi, played by a mesmerizing Dhruv Piyush Panjuani, is a mildly autistic boy who has a flair for Art but his parents, thanks to their middle-class insecurities, neither recognize nor encourage his talent. Driven by Padmini's social insecurities and Ravi's guilt for dropping Buddhi as a baby, the parents chase an unreal dream of seeing their son as a “normal” boy, a good student who, like most boys, is destined to become an engineer or a doctor.

When Ravi has an accidental meeting with Dr Sathya – a maverick scientist, their wildest dreams seem within reach. He tells them about an experimental drug called "Brain Booster" that will make Buddhi a genius. Will brain booster really boost Buddhi’s brain? Or will this wholly unnatural drug reveal something that neither parent had bargained for?

Apna Asmaan is a very touching tale, inspired by Kaushik Roy's own son Orko and their journey as a family. Shobana and Irrfan Khan’s performances, bring an unparalleled humanity to this incredible story.

Apna Asmaan won the German Star of India Award for Best Feature Film at Stuttgart Festival.

Programmer: hayet benkara



Director's Bio

Kaushik has no formal training or schooling in art, filmmaking or advertising. He is a self made man who has always believed in “learning by working” rather than being confined to any classroom. His text books are people whom he observes minutely and absorbs completely for his creative expression. Perhaps this started at a very early age when he was earning his pocket money as a tourist tram-car guide in Kolkata. Kaushik comes from a family of artists and filmmakers and as a youngster displayed great talent as a painter and a photographer. While doing his graduation at the Saint Xavier’s College Kolkata, it was his flair for art that got him breaks as a cinema slide maker, window display designer and finally a visualiser with JWT Kolkata in their creative department. His paintings have been exhibited in many group shows like “Harmony” and recently in 2006 he had a very successful show entitled Jugalbandi, at the Nehru Centre Art Gallery, Mumba. His first love has always been cinema. He wrote his first script when he was 15 and bunked college to work as a directorial assistant –managing the continuity for a feature shot in the Sunderbans. After his graduation his advertising career took a turn towards the management side of the business. However, throughout his advertising career and even during his profit center management days he continued to work on several advertising and documentary films. Apna Asmaan is a test of his long stint as an apprentice of the craft. This is Kaushik’s first full length feature film. He believes he is a story teller who got to learn the craft from comic books and not novels. Therefore, he has chosen cinema as his medium as he only knows to write visually. Kaushik managed to produce and direct his debut film while continuing with his rather demanding day job as the President –Brand Strategy and Marketing Communication with Reliance Industries Limited. With almost three decades in the business of advertising and marketing communication he has held senior positions with organizations like JWT, Clarion Advertising (now Bates India), Phillips and the Mudre-Reliance Group. Some of the campaigns that he has been a part of are: Tata Steel’s “We also make Steel”; Philip’s “Lets make things better”; Max Touch’s (now Hutch) “World in your pocket”: Reliance India Mobile’s “Karlo Duniya Mutthi Mein” Kaushik has held many senior positions in various Advertising & Marketing Associations, including the office of the President of the prestigious Advertising Club Bombay. He is one of the founder members of the Bimal Roy Memorial Committee; the Subhas Ghosal Foundation ad is a member of the prestigious Film Producer’s Guild of India. Kaushik is married to Nina and has two sons Rajeev & Roshan.

Production Company ImaginationWorks Pvt.Ltd Kalpataru Habitat Fl 165 B Dr.SS Rao Rd Parel Mumbai, Maharashtra 400 012   India Tel.: 91222232901201 Fax: 912222785799 Email: kaushik.roy@ril.com Website: www.apnaasmaan.com

Distribution Company N/A

Technical Information

Type	:	colour
Dialogue	:	Hindi
Subtitles	:	english
Running Time	:	110 min.
Exhibition Format	:	35mm
Screen Ratio	:	1:85
Sound	:	stereo

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