Ivan Ayr's 'Meel Patthar' named best film at Singapore's Silver Screen Awards

According to Variety, "Meel Pathhar" ("Milestone") also earned Vicky the award for best performer at the Silver Screen Awards, the closing event of the Singapore International Film Festival. Also starring Lakshvir Saran, the film was screened at the 2020 Venice Film Festival in its the Horizons section in September.

"Meel Patthar" later played at the Pingyao and Stockholm festivals. In Singapore, it was screened in the competition that is reserved for first and second features hailing from the Asia region. Ayr previously said he tried to explore the uncertainties posed by the future and how one deals with it in "Meel Patthar".

"It tells you where you are and how much further you have to go. There is a feeling of uncertainty, the protagonist is uncertain where he is going but he knows where he is. "Like how we say there is a significant moment or milestone one has crossed, that is there in the film. He gets to certain milestone which he is unaware of and certain things begin to happen which makes things uncertain," the director had told PTI in August ahead of the film's screening in Venice. The Singapore International Film Festival was held as a hybrid event that included in-person screenings and online presentations. The Silver Screen Awards were held as a closed-door virtual event, but with the full ceremony recorded. It will be made available in the week of December 7.

Ayr's first movie "Soni" (2018), which followed two policewomen dealing with the rising crimes against women in Delhi, had garnered praise at various film festivals and received critical acclaim upon its release on streaming platform Netflix last year.