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Toronto festival gets comedy, Bollywood

TORONTO — As the September festival rivalry with Venice and Telluride heats up, the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday announced world premieres for the latest films from Jason Reitman, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Indian directors Anurag Singh and Ashutosh Gowariker (“Lagaan”).

“Amelie” director Jeunet will debut his weapons comedy “Micmacs” as a gala at Roy Thomson Hall ahead of an October Gallic release.

The high profile Toronto venue will also host Singh’s Bollywood love triangle drama “Dil Bole Hadippa,” which stars Shahid Kapoor and Rani Mukherji and comes from Yash Raj Films.

Also receiving red carpet treatment in Toronto is “What’s Your Raashee?” Ashutosh Gowariker’s romantic comedy about a young man pursuing a dream girl to save his family from ruin, and stars Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra.

Toronto also booked a gala for the North American premiere of British director Tom Hooper’s “The Damned United,” a soccer drama starring Michael Sheen.

And in the Special Presentations sidebar, Jason Reitman is bringing his George Clooney business travel dramedy “Up in the Air” from Paramount to Toronto for a world bow.

There’s also a world premiere for Icelandic director Dagur Kari’s “The Good Heart,” where a homeless boy played by Paul Dano meets a grumpy bar owner (Brian Cox).

And there’s North American bows for Joe Dante’s 3D supernatural thriller “The Hole” and German director Fatih Akin’s music-driven comedy “Soul Kitchen,” a Birol Unel and Moritz Bleibtreu-starrer also slated to open the Hamburg Film Festival.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter