Shyama

Shyama, Inner Eye’s widescreen film of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s classic Bengali dance musical, will have its multiplatform, multilingual launch in late November. The film, which will be open to personal copying, will include two logo slots after Inner Eye’s own logo, allowing their sponsors to reach everyone who is interested in Indian culture and dance.

The film tells the story of Shyama, a court dancer, who falls in love with a foreign merchant, who is falsely imprisoned and faces execution ... unless Shyama accepts her admirer’s offer to take the merchant’s place. Shyama features the authentic performances of leading dancers, singers and musicians from Tagore’s home town of Santiniketan. Its subtitles represent the first translations of Shyama from the original Bengali.

Announcing Inner Eye’s plans for the release, Kaberi Chatterjee, who stars as Shyama, said “If someone likes Shyama enough to make a personal copy of it for a friend or relative, their recommendation will help the film, including the sponsors’ logos, to reach our intended audience.”

For the 230 million Bengali speakers around the world, the Bengali version of the film will be available free online. Subtitled versions of the film will be available as paid downloads in formats ranging from iPhone to 2K digital cinema. Shyama’s soundtrack album will be released through online digital music stores such as iTunes, Napster and eMusic.

Bidding for the two logo slots is open until 06:00 GMT on 1 October 2008. With a minimum bid of £10,000 + VAT, the winning sponsors will also be able to use material from Shyama indefinitely in their own promotional material and activities. Potential sponsors should write to sponsorship@innereye.eu to express their interest and receive more details.