Sharmila Tagore releases CD soundtrack of `Life Goes On`

The CD soundtrack of `Life Goes On`, a British feature film by NRI writer/director Sangeeta Datta was released in London by veteran actress Sharmila Tagore.

London: The CD soundtrack of `Life Goes On`, a British feature film by NRI writer/director Sangeeta Datta was released here by veteran actress Sharmila Tagore. Sharmila stars in `Life Goes On`, a multi-cultural adaptation of Shakespeare`s famous `King Lear`, set in contemporary British Asian context.

The film features a well known star cast from India including Sharmila and her daughter Soha Ali Khan, Om Puri and playwright and actor Girish Karnad. Director Sangeeta Datta said: "The Iraq war, rising terrorism and global violence, and resultant Islam phobia in the West have all led me to urgently tell a story of overcoming prejudice and fear. "As an Indian migrant I am also aware of the prejudice between Hindus and Muslims since the 1947 India partition days and memories of violence and terror, which are tough to dismiss." Soha Ali Khan said it was for the first time she had acted along with her mother and also for the first time she has acted in English film. "It was first time I have worked in England and for the first time with my mother." Om Puri said, "to me, the film reflects the multicultural society as it exists in the UK. This film is a lesson in tolerance." Sangeeta said the distribution rights for the film has been sold in north America which it would be released in December and in the UK in January. Outstanding young British Asian music talent, Soumik Datta has composed the soundtrack for the film collaborating with Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, singer/songwriter Fiona Bevan, Bollywood playback singher Abhijit and singer Reena Bhardwaj. The film marks the 150th anniversry of the Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore and uses Tagore`s songs as a tribute. These have been translated for the first time into Hindi by Akhtar. `Life Goes On` is the first feature film of Sangeeta. She was the associate director of `Brick Lane`. The movie has been screened at film festivals Marche Du film and Cannes Film Festival and has won Best Feature Film award at the prestigious Pravasi Film Festival, India and the Audience Appreciation Award at the Tongues on Fire Film Festival, London, 2010. Shot on location in and around London and also in Kolkota, the film tells the story of a grief-stricken British Bengali doctor who struggles to cope with his three daughters after his wife`s unexpected death. The drama explores their relationship that unfolds over five days leading up to the funeral. A series of events also leads the main protagonist, a Hindu, to face the demons of his past and his old and unspoken prejudice against Muslims. A cross generational family drama with an emotional narrative, `Life goes On` is an ideal for family viewing, Sangeeta said. PTI