India FM
 
Mumbai, Mar 26: Adlabs will release the Academy Award-winning documentary Penguins: A Love Story simultaneously across India on April 13, 2007. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan will be stepping in the shoes of Morgan Freeman (the narrator in the US version), doing the voice-over for the Indian versions in English and Hindi.

Described by some as a real-life action movie, March of the Penguins (as it is known internationally) has won critical acclaim as well as a plethora of awards, the biggest being an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature 2006, a Cesar for Best Sound 2006 and a BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography, Editing 2006. It has also garnered record collections across the world with $77.43m coming from its release in the US alone. It will be released across India in four dubbed languages – English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.

According to Sunir Kheterpal, COO, Adlabs Film Distribution, “Releasing Penguins: A Love Story in Indian theatres highlights Adlab’s commitment to showcase critically acclaimed niche films for Indian audiences. Going forward, Adlabs, through its distribution and exhibition divisions, will continue to provide a proactive platform and consumer interface for path-breaking Indian and international cinematic content”.

What is the film about?

The film follows one particular flock of Emperor Penguins as they perform a truly remarkable journey alone in the pitiless ice deserts of Antarctica, deep in the most inhospitable terrain on Earth, a journey which has taken place for millennia. Emperor penguins in their thousands abandon the deep blue security of their ocean home and clamber onto the frozen ice to begin their long journey into a region so bleak, so extreme, it supports no other wildlife at this time of year. In single file, the penguins march blinded by blizzards, buffeted by gale force winds. Resolute, indomitable, they are driven by the overpowering urge to reproduce, to assure the survival of the species.

After a ritual courtship they pair off into monogamous couples and mate after which follow countless trips back and forth as the mother and father continually exchange functions of caretaker and nourishing themselves until the weather grows warmer and the chicks are ready to take their first faltering dive into the deep blue waters of the Antarctic.