New Delhi | Author and activist Arundhati Roy's acclaimed 1989 movie "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones" is set to be screened at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, Film Heritage Foundation announced on Tuesday.
The film, restored in 4K by the Shivendra Singh Dungarpur-led FHF, featured a screenplay by the Booker Prize-winning author, who also had a significant role in the television movie.
The restored version of the film, which was directed by her then husband Pradip Krishen, was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.
"'In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones' goes to Shanghai! FHF's 4K restoration of Pradip Krishen and Arundhati Roy's 'In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones' (1989) is headed to the Shanghai International Film Festival and will be screening between June 12 - 21. 2026," FHF said in a post on X.
Set in an architecture school in Delhi in the mid-1970s, "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones" is a whimsical campus comedy originally made for Doordarshan and later acquired cult status among film enthusiasts. It was a rare film that captured the spirit and anxieties of the student life of the time.
The movie's story combined humour with sharp social observation and followed Anand Grover, nicknamed Annie by his friends, a misguided visionary who gets into trouble for making fun of the principal Y D Billimoria known as Yamdoot.
The film was partly inspired by Roy's experiences of studying at the leading architecture institute, School of Planning and Architecture, in Delhi.
This was the first screenplay by Roy, who also worked with Krishen for his first film, the 1985 colonial-period drama "Massey Sahib".
The duo later collaborated for 1992's "Electric Moon" with Roy once again writing the screenplay and Krishen taking on directing duties.
Besides Roy, "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones" also featured Arjun Raina and Roshan Seth in lead roles.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee, who were both struggling in the Delhi theatre circuit at the time, appeared in small but significant roles.
The film won two National Awards for best screenplay for Roy and best feature film in English.
It was restored in 4K by the Film Heritage Foundation at L'Immagine Ritrovata's laboratory, in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) and Krishen. The restoration used the original 16 mm camera negative along with a 35 mm print.
The 28th edition of the Shanghai International Film Festival will run from June 12 to 21
