PA/02/12 13 January 2012
AUSTRALIAN CRICKET COMEDY SAVE YOUR LEGS! GOES IN TO BAT IN INDIA
While the Australian and Indian cricket teams are playing out a Test series in Australia, a film crew are in India trying their hand with the bat and ball. New comedy Save Your Legs! completed its Australian shoot last month and is now shooting in India – Varanasi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Save Your Legs! is a wild ride from the suburbs of Australia to India. For Edward ‘Teddy’ Brown, it’s not just the end of summer in Australia; it’s the end of an era. In a desperate bid to wind back the clock and cling to his childhood dreams, Teddy leads his two best mates and their D Grade cricket club on an audacious tour of India, winning friends but losing matches all the way.
‘Cricket is very much a part of the relationship which binds Australia and India together in so many ways’, said Acting Australian High Commissioner Lachlan Strahan. ‘It’s wonderful to see the best of Australia’s film industry taking the sporting and cultural relationship in a new direction, telling a very human story about a game which grips the national imagination in two countries. All of this is done with humour and sensitivity.’
The film boasts a talented and critically acclaimed Australian and Indian cast with Indian actors in key roles, including Darshan Jariwala (Gandi My Father, Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani), Pallavi Sharda (Dus Tola , Love Breakups Zindagi, My Name is Kahn), Sid Makkar (Turning 30, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) with IPL Extra Innings Anchor Shibani Dandekar making a guest appearance. The film also features a cameo from cricket legend Sir Richard Hadlee, who will take to the pitch on the big screen for the first time.
First time feature film director Boyd Hicklin will helm Save Your Legs!, alongside producers Robyn Kershaw (Bran Nue Dae, Looking for Alibrandi) and Nick Batzias (Not Quite Hollywood).
The production in India is being supervised by Line Producer Pravesh Sahni and his team at India Take One Productions (ITOP) who are the company behind the Indian shoots for productions Mission Impossible 4, Eat Pray Love and Slumdog Millionaire.
Save Your Legs! is inspired by the documentary of the same name, also directed by Boyd Hicklin, which followed a suburban cricket team on their tour of India. The film is a ‘coming of middle-age’ bromance that follows three long-time best friends who realise a childhood dream and play for Australia.
The film has generated much excitement in Australia and has tremendous support from Cricket Australia and the Australian and Victorian Governments. Its World Premiere is scheduled for the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2012 before its commercial release in Australia and India later this year.
Development has been supported by Screen Australia and Robyn Kershaw Productions with key partners including Film Victoria, the Victorian Government, Madman Entertainment, the Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund, Deluxe and the Nine Network.
NB: Save Your Legs! is an exclamation heard across Australia whenever cricket is played and a batsman hits a boundary – it is the cry heard from team mates as there is no need for the batsman to run hence the term ‘save your legs’.
Contact Information:
For further details about the production and its subsequent release, please contact:
Annette Smith e: [email protected] p: +61 419 578 925
Website: www.saveyourlegs.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/saveyourlegs
Distribution:
Distribution in Australia and New Zealand is being handled by Madman Entertainment. Madman Entertainment is also managing World Sales of Save Your Legs! alongside Protagonist Film Sales.
For further information, please contact Paul Wiegard: [email protected]