Irish-speaking film Kneecap has turned out to be a surprising hit in India, with fans queueing outside cinemas for its release.
The Sundance-winning film, which is coming to Prime Video on November 15, follows a Belfast-based hip-hop trio Kneecap, who play themselves in the flick.
A Belfast teacher finds himself in the orbit of self-confessed ‘low life’ lads, and they go on to form a rap group, who perform songs entirely in Irish.
Written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, this comedy-drama stars the trio as themselves with the likes of Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Jessica Reynolds, Adam Best, Simone Kirby, and Michael Fassbender in supporting roles.
It premiered in January at Sundance – the first Irish language film to do so – to rave reviews, and the praises continued onto Rotten Tomatoes, where it sits at an impressive 97% on the Tomatometer.
Set in the late 2010s, we are introduced to Liam Ó Hannaidh and Naoise Ó Cairealláin, as the former is arrested at a drug-fuelled party and insists to police he can only communicate in Irish.
Enter music teacher JJ Ó Dochartaigh, who is there to help interpret for the interrogation and helps Liam go free, taking his notebook which he discovers contains impressive lyrics.
And so Kneecap is born, and chaos unfolds as JJ covers his face to protect his identity as part of the politically-charged rap group. What starts as a musical endeavour ends in threats, bombs, and kidnapping.
Now fans in India have been eager to catch the comedy at Mumbai Film Festival, queueing down the street to see it.
Pictures shared on social media, including one from Kneecap manager Daniel Lambert, showed fans waiting outside the showings.
While the film is fiction, the band – who formed in 2017 by three friends who go by their stage names Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí – is real.
In February it emerged they were planning on taking legal action after they were blocked from getting a £15,000 grant after the UK government objected.
They claimed an independent selection board approved the grant, but they were told that their 2019 tour entitled Farewell to the Union had angered the Conservatives.
UK Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch’s spokesperson said they did not want to hand taxpayers’ money ‘to people that oppose the United Kingdom itself’.
While the trio have caused controversy for some of their political lyrics and drug-referencing, they maintain art is supposed to be ‘challenging’ and that their music is often tongue-in-cheek.
‘There’s a lot of playfulness and a lot fun and craic, if you’re offended by it then you’re just not getting the joke,’ Móglaí Bap told the BBC in January.
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