Nalin's 'Flowers' blooms for Pandora
Third teaming of helmer with company
Pic, set in the Himalayas and Japan, has a budget of S4.4 million ($5.7 million). It's the third teaming of Pandora with Nalin after his 2001 debut, "Samsara," and doc "Ayurveda -- Art of Being."
The Teutonic shingle has been involved in several Indian pics including Mira Nair's "Monsoon Wedding" and Rajan Khosa's "Dance of the Wind," where it first made contact with Nalin in 1997.
"Until very recently, the only way for Indian filmmakers to make films independently from the Bollywood system was through international partnership," said Pandora's Claudia Steffen.
For Pandora, the cooperation with a French unit was an easy choice to make: Nalin has long been a resident of Paris.
"Samsara," a rare film to shoot in the Indian-Pakistani border region of Ladakh, subsequently sold to 44 countries. Miramax has U.S. rights but never released it theatrically.
"Valley of Flowers" is a semifantasy romantic legend that starts in Ladakh of 200 years ago and later moves on to modern-day Tokyo.
"We hope to get through with post-production by May, in time for submission in Cannes," Nalin said.
