Now, Lovers in the Blue Night has won the NETPAC award for Best Asian Film at Venice. It had its world premiere in the Orizzonti slate, marking director Anuparna Roy ‘s second consecutive year at the festival after 2025’s Songs of Forgotten Trees, for which she won Best Director. Lovers in the Blue Night was the solo Indian feature which premiered at the Venice Film Festival this year.
Because this film comes from a very personal place, “Winning the NETPAC Award means a lot to me. Because it recognises not just a film, but the sensitivity, courage, and conviction, “An award like this is deeply meaningful. The film is set in Mumbai and is backed by Vikas Kumar, Sharib Khan, Bibhanshu Rai and Romil Modi. “I wanted to approach them with tenderness, dignity and honesty. To receive this recognition at Venice, a year after my debut was awarded here, is deeply moving. I’m grateful the film has found a space with the audience and jury,” she added. Neeraj Churi, Beesham A Seecharan, and Navin Shetty serve as co-producers in the film.
The NETPAC jury recognised the film for the sensitive portrayal of marginalised lives in Mumbai, describing it as a “delicately sensitive vision of the intersecting lives of migrant workers” and praising Roy’s “confident voice” and the film’s “cohesively nuanced” exploration of displacement, urban survival, hidden desire, gender, poverty and class. Roy said she is grateful for the recognition. These are characters and lives that are often pushed to the margins,” she said in a statement. Vikas Kumar, producer, Khan and Kumar Media, said Roy made the film with “remarkable emotional and cinematic confidence”. ‘Lovers in the Blue Night’ asks us to look closely at lives that are often pushed to the margins, and to recognise the humanity, desire, and dignity within them,” he said.
