Private Project

Saahasi: Dateline Singapore

Featuring Singapore-based actors like Veena Puthran Bangera, Rachna Anand, Gurdip Singh, Nidhi Chopra Khanna, Pankaj Kumar, Neil Daswani, Edmund Chow, Hannah Wong, Jawahar Kanjilal and Tejas Chitaliya, Saahasi: Dateline Singapore is a bold take on the changing ethos of journalism.
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Set in the backdrop of a gang rape victim who is brought to Singapore from India for medical treatment, the film explores the clash of values between old journalism and new journalism, which is more aggressive and TRP-driven, through two characters, Gurdip and Garima.

Gurdip grew up in Singapore and is a veteran print media journalist. Garima is a young and dynamic go-getter who comes to Singapore to cover the developing story of the gang-rape victim for a TV news channel back in India. In the pursuit of the story, the two journalists come head to head on many occasions. Where does this clash lead them as professionals and are they able to discover their humanity beyond the scoop they are after?

Supported by a talented cast, this film examines one of the most important issues of our media-saturated times and questions the ethics of an industry that has turned news into a business like any other.

Saahasi is produced and directed by Singapore-based writer and filmmaker Zafar Anjum. His
previous directorial ventures include The Singapore Vignettes (released globally on one of India's leading OTT platforms, MXPlayer) and The Sacrifice (released on Disney+Hotstar).

  • Zafar Anjum
    Director
    Singapore Vignettes
  • Sunita Lad Bhamray
    Writer
  • Zafar Anjum
    Producer
  • Veena Puthran Bangera
    Key Cast
    "Garima"
  • Gurdip Singh
    Key Cast
    "Gurdip"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    27 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 1, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Singapore
  • Country of Filming:
    Singapore
  • Language:
    Hindi
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Zafar Anjum

Zafar Anjum is a Singapore-based writer and filmmaker. As a journalist he spent almost two decades in media with prestigious organisations such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Fairfax Business Media and MediaCorp, and went on to found his own media companies, Kitaab and Filmwallas.

As a publisher, he has published more than 60 titles and has authored several books. As an author, he has many bestsellers to his credit, including Iqbal (Penguin Random House), Startup Capitals (Penguin Random House) and The Resurgence of Satyam (Penguin Random House). He is the founder and series editor of The Best Asian Short Stories series, which is seen as a unique platform for Asian story writers.

In 2015, he started Filmwallas as a collaborative platform with the goal of connecting filmmakers across the globe and co-funded projects for more than half a dozen filmmakers. The platform has been supported by many top Indian film personalities such as Prakash Jha, Nagesh Kukunoor, and Ashish Vidyarthi, among others. Under Filmwallas, he has organised many acting workshops and talks by well-known Bollywood actors such as Shishir Sharma and Ashish Vidyarthi.

Zafar obtained script writing training from the University of the Arts, London, and has been coached by many Hollywood and Bollywood personalities such as Syd Field, Venita Coehlo, and Loveleen Tandon (Co-director of Slumdog Millionaire).

Zafar has produced and directed many short films, documentaries, and corporate films for brands such as Oracle, Mastercard, Cognizant, Ramco, HCL Tech, RB, Motul and Palo Alto Networks, among others.

One of his award-winning short films, The Sacrifice, is playing on the streaming platform Disney+Hotstar. His most recent directorial productions include Zindagi...Interrupted (a Hindi short on life after Covid in Singapore) and "Singapore Vignettes". The latter is the compilation of three of his short films, shot entirely in Singapore. These shorts include Sirf Main (Hindi), More Chai Please (Hindi/Urdu) and The Corporate Wolf (English).
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