The Warrior (2001/I)

Director:

Asif Kapadia

Writers:

Asif Kapadia (screenplay)
Tim Miller (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 July 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

In feudal India, a warrior (Khan) who renounces his role as the longitme enforcer to a local lord becomes the prey in a murderous hunt through the Himalayan mountains.

Plot Keywords:

Warrior | Amulet | Mountain | Blood | Severed Head

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Irrfan Khan	...	Lafcadia - Warrior
Puru Chibber	...	Katiba, Warrior's son
Aino Annuddin	...	Biswas
Manoj Mishra	...	Warrior
Nanhe Khan	...	Warrior
Chander Singh	...	Warrior
Hemant Maahaor	...	Warrior
Mandakini Goswami	...	Rabia
Sunita Sharma	...	The girl
Shaukat Baig	...	Clerk
Gori Shanker	...	Tarang village headman
Prabhuram	...	Blacksmith
Wagaram	...	Blacksmith's son
Ajai Rohilla	...	Quarrey foreman
Noor Mani	...	Riaz - Thief
Sitaram Panchal	...	Dhaba stall owner
Chander Prakash Vyas	...	Dhaba stall man
Sanjal	...	Dhaba stall man
Anupam Shyam	...	Lord
Amit Kumar	...	Market trader
Damayanti Marfatia	...	Blind woman
Trilok Singh	...	Cart driver
Pushpa Negi	...	Restaurant owner
Karuna Sarah Davis	...	Restaurant girl
Rakesh Mehra	...	Rude customer
Anuradha Advanti	...	Lord's wife
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ismail Bashey	...	The Warrior (voice)
Madhu	...	Singer

Directed by
Asif Kapadia

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Asif Kapadia		screenplay
Tim Miller		screenplay

Produced by
Eleanor Chaudhuri	....	line producer: FSI
Elinor Day	....	co-producer
Bertrand Faivre	....	producer
Mark Hubbard	....	line producer
Hanno Huth	....	executive producer
Paul Webster	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Dario Marianelli

Cinematography by
Roman Osin

Film Editing by
Ewa J. Lind		(as Ewa Lind)

Casting by
Tigmanshu Dhulia

Production Design by
Adrian Smith

Art Direction by
Henry Harris		(supervising art director)

Set Decoration by
Agnes Goveas

Costume Design by
Louise Stjernsward

Makeup Department
Mariam Ajit Kumar	....	assistant hair stylist
Lesley Lamont-Fisher	....	makeup designer
Derek Lloyd	....	hair stylist
Derek Lloyd	....	makeup artist
Chhotu Sheikh	....	assistant makeup artist (as Chottu Sheikh)

Production Management
Caroline Hewitt	....	executive in charge of production: Film Four
Peta Inglesent	....	executive in charge of production: British Screen
Trevor Ingman	....	production supervisor
Miranda Jones	....	post-production supervisor
Rakesh Mehra	....	production manager
Rakesh Mehra	....	production manager
Rajen Rajkhowa	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Geoff Dibben	....	assistant director
Kanchan Ghosh	....	assistant director
Mohua Guha Thakurta	....	assistant director
Guy Heeley	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Roy Aguiar	....	art director: India
Sunil Chabra	....	property master (as Sunil Chabbra)
Rammilan Chaubey	....	stand-by props
Ashok Kolap	....	carpenter
Manish Kolte	....	props buyer
Babu Lal Mina	....	dressing props (as Babulal Meena)
Shambu Nath	....	stand-by props (as Shambhu Nath)
Kumar Rajendra	....	stand-by props
Kadoba Shinde	....	carpenter
Dhiran Singha	....	storekeeper
Isolde Sommerfeldt	....	stand-by art director
Bharat Surve	....	stand-by carpenter
Rajender Sutar	....	construction assistant
Amar Vidhate	....	construction manager
Sameer Vidhate	....	carpenter
Pradeep K. Vishwakarma	....	carpenter (as Pradeep Vishwakarma)
Virenda Yudav	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Tim Barker	....	foley editor
Paul Carr	....	dubbing mixer
Stan Fiferman	....	foley artist
Prashant Jaiswal	....	adr mixer
Johannes Konecny	....	dialogue editor
Melissa Lake	....	foley artist
Colin Ritchie	....	adr editor
Jatin Sarma	....	boom operator
Andy Shelley	....	sound designer
Andy Shelley	....	sound recordist
Andy Shelley	....	supervising sound editor
Mark Kenna	....	consultant: Dolby film sound (uncredited)
Mark Kenna	....	consultant: dolby film sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Allan Amin	....	special effects coordinator (as Ghani Amin)
Ainouddin Sheikh	....	special effects assistant (as Sheikh Annudin)
Harun Wagmare	....	special effects assistant

Stunts
Allan Amin	....	stunt coordinator (as Ghani Amin)
Firoz Khan	....	stuntman
Usman Shamshim	....	stunt horse wrangler (as Usman Shmsh)
Ainouddin Sheikh	....	stunts assistant (as Sheikh Annudin)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bharat Akatwa	....	rigger
Sayyad Hasan Ali	....	rigger (as Sayed Hasan Ali)
Shariff Ali	....	grip assistant
Ali Asad	....	additional photographer
Gorakh S. Avadhi	....	generator cleaner (as Gorak S. Avhad)
Adam M. Balasaheb	....	grips carpenter (as Adam Magdum Balasaheb)
Georges Diane	....	camera operator
Sarah Eatock	....	camera trainee
Antonin Gendre	....	key grip
Deepti Gupta	....	camera operator: second camera
Bajiraor Jadhav	....	electrician
Tukaram Joshi	....	electrician (as Turkuram Joshi)
Rajesh Khale	....	clapper loader: second camera
Indraj Marwari	....	grip assistant
G. Monic Kumar	....	focus puller: "b" camera
Jogaram Okaji	....	camera department runner
Kashinath Ratate	....	electrician
Micky Reeves	....	gaffer
Gyanchand Rikki	....	grip assistant
Hitesh Sadhrani	....	electrician (as Hitesh Sadrani)
Ramesh Sadrani	....	best boy
Chandu Sanse	....	electrician
Sirajjiva Suthar	....	generator operator
Piramo Vyas	....	director: second camera
Nathan Wiley	....	clapper loader
Shauket Zaria	....	electrician

Casting Department
Vanessa Baker	....	adr voice casting
Brendan Donnison	....	adr voice casting
Abdul Hafeez	....	assistant crowd collector
Amita Sehgal	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Liaqat Ali	....	tailor
Sabir Ali	....	wardrobe assistant
Daya Bhai	....	cutter
Marendra Mohan Mathur	....	dressman
Rupa Sahay	....	wardrobe assistant
Salim Shiekh	....	dressman (as Salim Shaikh)

Editorial Department
Guy Ducker	....	assistant editor
Deborah Kavanagh	....	film conform trainee
Kate Mackenzie	....	film conforming assistant

Music Department
Simon Allen	....	musician: percussion
Andrew Boland	....	music recordist
Catriona Brice	....	orchestral management
Sarah Ioannides	....	assistant to Mr Marianelli
Dario Marianelli	....	conductor
Dario Marianelli	....	orchestrator
Steve Price	....	music mixer
Baluji Shivastav	....	musician: dilruba
Nigel Zacharias	....	music recordist

Transportation Department
Bageshwar Pandey	....	generator driver

Other crew
Shammi Ahmed	....	production assistant
Lalit Raj Arora	....	production assistant
Gautam Banderi	....	unit doctor: Rajasthan (as Dr. Gautam Banderi)
Mohini Banerji	....	national permissions fixer (as Mohini Banerjee)
Maehul Tajh Behll	....	production assistant
Claire Bennett	....	production coordinator: India
Chand Bhat	....	location manager
Shyam Bihari	....	production assistant
Neil Calder	....	completion guarantor: Film Finances Inc.
Alice Dawson	....	production accountant
Pierre Du Plessis	....	business affairs: British Screen (as Pierre du Plessis)
Soledad Gatti-Pascual	....	production coordinator
Jacqueline Hurt	....	production lawyer
Ajai Kapur	....	production coordinator: India
Vandana Kapur	....	production assistant
Amit Kumar	....	associate director
Annie Mathews	....	production coordinator: Himachal
Anthony Minghella	....	presenter
G.D. Murthi	....	accountant
Anup Poddar	....	accountant
Pat Rambaut	....	script supervisor
Aubin Sebastian	....	production assistant
Anup Singh	....	house keeper
Maxine Stanley	....	post-production accountant
Justin Thomson-Glover	....	business affairs: Film Four

Thanks
Anuradha Advanti	....	thanks
John Joe Bardsley	....	thanks
Sebastien Beffa	....	thanks (as Sébastian Beffa)
Noelle Deschamps	....	thanks
Anne Gerles	....	thanks
Fabienne Godet	....	thanks
Janine Gold	....	thanks
Tony Grisoni	....	thanks
Nina Gupta	....	thanks
Kaizad Gustad	....	thanks
Iravati Harshe	....	thanks (as Irawati Harche)
Victoria Harwood	....	thanks
Alistair Hopkins	....	thanks
Mary Jacob	....	thanks
Priscilla John	....	thanks
Katita	....	thanks
Markam Ajit Kumar	....	thanks
Sumit Kumar	....	thanks
Victoria Lorkin-Lange	....	thanks
Andrea O'Connor	....	thanks
Simon Perry	....	special thanks
Gyanchand Rikki	....	thanks
Amanda Schiff	....	thanks
Emma Shepherd	....	thanks
Sue Bruce Smith	....	thanks
Anil Tejani	....	thanks
Anil Walia	....	thanks
Sunil Walia	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Bureau, The
• British Screen Productions (with the participation of) (as British Screen)
• FilmFour (as Film Four)
• Senator Film Produktion (in association with) (as Senator)
• Les Productions Lazennec (as Lazennec) (developed by)

Distributors

• Alta Films (Spain) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Buena Vista International (2006) (Argentina) (all media)
• Europa Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• FilmFour
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Océan Films

Other Companies

• AFM Lighting  lighting
• Angel Recording Studios  music mixed at
• Ashoka International  freight
• Film Finance  completion guarantee
• Film Services India  production services: India
• GPM Freight Systems  freight
• General Screen Enterprises  titles and opticals
• Goldcrest Post Production London  post-production facilities
• Kodak  stock
• Market Insurance Brokers (MIB)  insurance (as MIB)
• Mr. Youngs Preview Theatre  screening room
• Panavision Alga  camera equipment provided by
• Richmond Film Services  sound equipment
• Sonetrans  freight
• Sound Design Company, The  sound editing equipment
• Sprockets and Bytes  sound transfer
• Sylvia Wheeler Film Services  negative cutting
• The Irish Film Orchestra  music performed by
• USL Studio  music recorded at
• Vidfilm  video mastering
• Windmill Lane Recording Studios  music recorded at
• éQuinoxe  developed with the assistance of

Also Known As:

The Warrior (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

France:86 min | Argentina:86 min

Country:

UK | France | Germany

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | UK:12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Himachal Pradesh, India

Company:

Bureau, The

Trivia:

The Hindi-language film "The Warrior" was chosen by the British Academy of Film and Television to represent the UK in the "Best Foreign Language Film" category at the 2003 Oscars. The AMPAA took the highly unusual step of rejecting the movie because although the film had a British-born director (of Indian ancestry) and was co-produced by three British companies, the film did not qualify as British since "Hindi was not a language indigenous to the U.K." The British Academy was forced to submit its second choice, the Welsh-language, "Eldra". In an ironic twist, "The Warrior" went on to win "Best British Film" at the British Academy Awards the following year, although it lost "Best Non-English Film" to a film from Spain.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Before The Warrior tosses his dagger into the stream, a wire attached to the hilt to retrieve it from the water off-camera is clearly visible on the palm his left hand.

'The Warrior' Takes No Prisoners

"Thumbs Up/Down" makes little sense in general, but when it comes to Asif Kapadia's "The Warrior," it's virtually repugnant to say just yes or no to such work of rare and consuming integrity.

This brilliant new British director made his debut at 29, when the 2005 Miramax US release of "The Warrior" appeared in its initial form in 2001. It is shot entirely - and spectacularly, with the painterly prowess of a Zhang Yimou - in India of long ago. It is a work onto itself, without regard to convention or audience comfort.

Kapadia does not bother to introduce his subject or to invite viewers into the world he depicts, he thrusts them into it with the first frame, and he doesn't stop... until about an hour into the film, there is a brief episode not involving gripping, threatening, breathtaking conflict.

As does the director, the great new star in the title role, Irfan Khan, is also making his debut, but he has a face, a presence that you feel you have always known. He plays the top warrior, the enforcer and executioner for a inhumanly cruel warlord, a man slaughtering men, women and children of the villages that don't pay their taxes in full. When he suddenly stops killing and seeks a different life, the hunter becomes the hunted.

From this point on, when Hollywood would follow one of two or three possible scenarios, Kapadia continues to enthrall the viewer, the story unfolding in its own unique, riveting way, never becoming slack, lazy, predictable. Intensity continues unabated, suffused with meaning and complexity.

From India's Rajasthani Desert to the Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh, there are spectacular backdrops, but Roman Osin's camera is consistently on the faces - ancient, stoic faces (most of the cast never acted before), showing the barest signs of emotion - magnified in context and in the close-ups.

At the most horrendous moment of "The Warrior," the face on which we'd expect the reaction is suddenly hidden by the camera shifting up so that we see only a riot of colorful turbans. We both want to see that disappearing face, and are grateful that we don't have to witness it.

"The Warrior" takes control, arousing and maintaining intense feelings that you'll rarely experience in a theater. Which way the thumbs that wave high for the usual infantile drivel? Let's just break 'em.