Sundance Winner Neeraj Churi, Daniel Talbott Team on Mumbai Queer Feature ‘Starvation’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Sundance-winning producer Neeraj Churi and U.S. filmmaker Daniel Talbott have joined forces to produce “Starvation,” a Mumbai-set feature written and directed by Film and Television Institute of India graduates Saurav Mahind and Tejas Shende.

The project marks the first collaboration between Churi’s Lotus Visual Prods. and Talbott’s Orphan Andy Films.

The film centers on a pickpocket who survives by exploiting the desires of closeted men, until his detached worldview is upended when one of his marks returns seeking closeness rather than settling scores. Described by its producers as psychologically grounded, the project engages with themes of desire, class and emotional survival. It has been selected for the Writers’ Ink Screenwriting Lab 2026.

Related Stories

Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association Hails New Oscar Rules in International Feature Category as 'Major Victory'

Facing the Fascism: How This Season's Emmy Contenders Pepper Storytelling With Real-World Perils

Mahind, an FTII-trained writer-director whose work focuses on loneliness and unspoken emotional realities, received early recognition when his student short “Upon Starvation” claimed best short film in the international competition at the Sunny Bunny International Queer Film Festival. The film continues to screen at festivals. Mahind was also selected for the Indian government’s Creative Minds of Tomorrow program at the International Film Festival of India.

Shende, likewise FTII-trained, was named one of six South Asian fellows for the QueerFrames Screenwriting Lab (2024–25), where he developed a separate feature under the mentorship of filmmaker Saim Sadiq. He has participated in Berlinale’s European Film Market and contributed to award-winning documentary projects.

Churi produced “Cactus Pears” (Sabar Bonda), which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Talbott’s producing credits include “Midday Black Midnight Blue” and the drama series “Born Again.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to be teaming up with Neeraj Churi to help produce this bold, exquisite feature… The language of cinema is infinite, radical, and borderless, and this story feels emotionally urgent and deeply human,” Talbott said.

“What struck me immediately was how unfiltered and emotionally precise the writing is. Saurav and Tejas are telling a story that feels deeply rooted in lived experience, while also being cinematically ambitious. It’s exactly the kind of voice we want to support as we build our international slate,” Churi added.

“With ‘Starvation,’ we wanted to explore desire and vulnerability without moral framing or polish. Having Neeraj and Daniel on board allows us to push the film both creatively and globally,” Mahind and Shende said.

“Starvation” is currently in development; casting and financing will be announced at a later date.