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Ustad Bantoo


Arsh Jain | India | 2026 | 120 mins. | Hindi | Asia Premiere | Filmmaker attending

Sat, Oct 31 | 10:00 AM | Picturetime 2 (Football Ground)

Poster - Ustad Bantoo

Bantoo, a young trumpet player in an Indian wedding band, no longer finds satisfaction in routine wedding music. His life changes unexpectedly when he encounters a street musician, sparking an obsession to discover his ‘own music’. This pursuit clashes with his bandmates, who view music pragmatically, as a means to send money home to their families each month. Unburdened by heavy responsibilities, Bantoo navigates the cynical world of wedding bands with his newfound quest, risking his relationships and livelihood in the process.

Arsh Jain

Arsh Jain

Arsh Jain is a 24-year-old filmmaker based in Delhi. His debut short film, 2BHK (2024), screened across seven Indian cities through independent film clubs. The film is available to stream on BREW OTT. Arsh began his artistic journey in theatre in 2019, acting in over ten productions before moving into directing. He co-directed an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground, which won multiple awards. Master Bantoo is his debut feature film. It received support from the Red Sea Fund and was selected for the WIP Lab at Film Bazaar 2025.

Producer: Arsh Jain, Jyotsana Rajpurohit, Dhruv Solanki
Writer: Arsh Jain
Cinematographer: Samraj Agarwal
Editor: Arsh Jain
Sound: Bharat Kishore Mehra
Music: Aman Gupta
Cast: Kashi Kumar Dubey, Aman Ambawata, Sankalp Bharadwaj, Sachin Kumar, Shivam Khurrana

International Film Festival Rotterdam 2026
Chicago South Asian Film Festival 2026
Tasveer Film Festival 2026

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