Actor Manoj Bajpayee on Sunday walked the red carpet at the 74th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival after the premiere of his film The Fable, the only Indian entry competing in the Encounters segment of the event.

“Stepping onto the red carpet at the Berlin International Film Festival, filled with pride and joy,” the 54-year-old actor wrote in a heartfelt note alongside a set of pictures with his fellow cast members on Instagram.

Clad in a black tuxedo and a matching jacket with fur on the collar, Manoj posed for the lens on the Berlinale red carpet with The Fable director Raam Reddy and cast members including Deepak Dobriyal, Priyanka Bose, Tillotama Shome and Hiral Sidhu. All the cast members were in black outfits.

Sharing the experience of shooting for the film during the pandemic, Manoj said the entire team’s optimism remained high even when the first shoot schedule got interrupted three days after it started. “And now, we are starting with Berlinale. It’s like poetic justice,” he added.

“I’ve been working on it with my blood, sweat and tears for a long time. I’ve been in this little bubble, now I’m out in the world, the film’s about to be born. So, I’m going for the birth of my child,” Reddy said in a statement.

The Fable is competing with 14 other international titles at Berlinale 2024, which will showcase other Indian titles like The Adamant Girl, In the Belly of a Tiger, O Seeker, Remote Occlusions and Two Refusals in the Forum segment. The Berlin International Film Festival began on February 15 and will run till February 25.