III Smoking Barrels is a 2017 Indian drama film written and directed by Sanjib Dey[1][2][3] and produced by Amit Malpani[2] under his banner Malpani Talkies. The film is an anthology of three stories exploring three socio-political issues encompassing Northeast India. The film also seamlessly uses six spoken languages[4] which is considered a unique feat in Indian cinema history.[5]
The film was released in India on 21 September 2018. An official trailer[12][13][14][15] of the film was released[16][17] on 20 August 2018.
Plot
The film is an anthology of three stories from North East India,[18] each exploring a different stage of human life. The first story is about a child, who on escaping from a rebel camp hijacks a car, transpiring in a journey that unravels her plight and probes deep into traumatic issues of children involved in armed conflicts.[19] The next story is about a boy, a drug peddler, and his journey into the drug world.[19] It simultaneously explores the life of his grieving mother while delving into the region that has become synonymous with the drug trade. The third story is about a man, an elephant poacher,[19] who ends up killing fifteen elephants to fend for himself and his young wife. It explores his treacherous life and the murky powers that control this abhorrent business.[20]
The development of the film started in 2014 when Malpani Talkies came on board to produce the film which is entirely set in Northeast India.[24] The principal photography[25] of the film started in 2014 and ended in November 2015. During these two years all the three stories in the film were mainly filmed near the international borders of India-Bhutan, India-Bangladesh, India- Myanmar and at the famous Manas National Park in Assam[26] and in the city of Guwahati.
Soundtrack
The background score of the film have been composed by Italian composer Michele Josia in collaboration with Indian composer Anurag Saikia. The soundtrack[27][28] consists eight songs composed by various composers and sung by Papon Angarag Mahanta,[29]Kartik Das Baul, Isheeta Chakrvarthy, Nangsan Lyngwa and Gregory Sharma. The songs were released by Times Music. The first song "Yeh Tishnagi"[30] in Hindi language was released on 29 August 2018. Same day an Assamese version of the same song titled "Uttorbihin[30]" was also released. The entire album[31] of eight songs were released on 2 September 2018. The album comprises various genres from rock to Baul to Borgeet to Death Metal and in four different languages viz. Hindi, English, Bengali and Assamese.[citation needed]
Festivals and special screening
III Smoking Barrels was officially selected for screening at different International Film Festivals across the globe.
On 14 March 2018, a special screening of the film[37] was held at the SFX cinema in Chiang Mai,[38]Bangkok, with the support of Indian Consulate of Chiang Mai under its cultural exchange program. The screening was attended by Consulate Generals and Consuls of various countries like Japan, China, USA, Portugal, Austria etc. Among other dignitaries was famous Indian film directorKabir Khan.[37]
