MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment’s forthcoming film – Staying Alive – directed by Ananth Mahadevan created a buzz among viewers and cinema buffs at the 12th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).
 
This Hindi film was screened on 12 and 13 December 2007 at IFFK, where it received a standing ovation.

Staying Alive starring Saurabh Shukla and Mahadevan, is based on a true story of a journalist and an underworld kingpin. Both of them share a room in the intensive cardiac care at a hospital owing to heart attack. While one scoffs at death because he is seasoned as it is his third attack, the other is totally petrified on suffering his first. The film is about being grateful at the joy of just staying alive.
 
Staying Alive has been earlier screened at Bite the Mango Festival at Bradford UK and now at IFFK. The movie will be visiting many more festivals before the formal release of the film.
 
Mahadevan says, “Staying Alive is very close to my heart, as the entire process of directing and acting in a film like this was really challenging. To keep audiences interested throughout the film with just two beds, two heart patients and bring home the truth of life was a difficult task. All in all, Staying Alive has been designed for an international, stringent and strict jury and therefore for a set of audiences who demand the best. I am glad to know that viewers have acknowledged and appreciated the film at IFFK.”

The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy annually hosts IFFK at Thiruvananthapuram which is recognized by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). The 12th IFFK 2007 is currently being held from 7 – 14 December 2007.