Toronto, Sep 15 (UNI) Mumbai-born director Vasan Bala's 'Mard ko Dard Nahin Hota' has made a landmark in India cinema when it became the first film from the country to be screened in the Midnight Madness programme of the Toronto film festival.

Titled 'The Man Who Feels No Pain' in English, the film is an action comedy drawing heavily on the martial arts-centred films of the 70s and 80s. The 134-minute film, which was shot in Mumbai, tells the story of a young man afflicted with a disease that makes him immune to pain.

The film, which had its world premiere at the Ryerson Theatre situated on the Ryerson University campus at midnight last night, is one of the six Indian movies selected to the 43rd edition of the Toronto film festival.

"It is amazing to be in the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto film festival," said Bala, whose family belongs to Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu. "It is a dream come true for me."

The Midnight Madness programme, which screens films at midnight during the festival, selects movies with quirky twists and tales. Previous years have seen many zombie films in the programme, a crowd puller at the Toronto festival.

"It is an insane crowd at the Ryerson Theatre's Midnight Madness screenings," said Toronto festival artistic director Cameron Bailey. "There is a lot of energy."

The film stars Abhimanyu Dassani as the superhero, Surya. Dassani is the son of popular Bollywood actor Bhagyashree.

"Seasoned with delirious pop-culture references and freewheeling fisticuffs, Bala's film endearingly synthesises the infectious vivacity of Bollywood masala extravaganzas with the irreverent martial arts mayhem of vintage Stephen Chow, underpinning this amusingly serpentine story with a through line about personal empowerment," says Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky.

Bala's debut feature film, Peddlers', was also screened at the Toronto film festival, in 2012.

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