2012 New York Indian Film Festival: 100 Years of Indian Cinema

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 11 May 2012 23:55

Written by Laura Blum

Spicy ingredients, vivid colors, complex chemistry -- Indian cinema is known as masala for the mind and, like the turmeric blend, it can be every bit as therapeutic.

The 2012 New York Indian Film Festival has double cause for feasting: this year marks its 12th anniversary, and Indian cinema turns 100. Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council, NYIFF is the longest-running movie showcase of Indian and South Asian film in the U.S.

Between May 23 and 27, 2012, cultural adepts can steep themselves in both new discoveries and prize-winning selections from the National Awards in India, Cannes, Sundance and the Berlin film festivals. More than 40 works will be shown, including by Pakistani director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, whose documentary short Saving Face won an Academy Award, and by Anurag Kashyap, whose Colonial-themed Gangs of Wasseypur will close the Festival fresh from Cannes.

Among other buzzy selections are Rajan Khosa's youthful Gattu, which merited a special mention at Berlin; Tigmanshu Dhulia's Delhi crime flick Shagird, starring Nana Patekar; and Mangesh Hadawale's droll social critique Dekh Indian Circus, winner of the Audience Choice Award at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival.

For stardust, NYIFF has lined up celebrities such as Kareena Kapoor and Madhur Bhandarkar, director Mira Nair, author Salman Rushdie and model and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi.

The Opening Night title, Chittagong, is based on the true story of a 14-year-old boy who joins the armed campaign against the British Raj in the 1930s. Directed by former NASA scientist Bedabrata Pain, this action drama mirrors the turbulence of the era in a young hero's personal quest.

Some of the films in this year´s roster have themselves waged a liberation struggle. Take Inshallah Football for example. Ashvin Kumar's documentary criticizing Indian democracy and the Kashmir conflict met with a punishing "R" rating by the Indian Censor Board.

The film follows an 18-year-old soccer player in Kashmir whose Argentine coach taps him to play in Pele's Brazil but who is denied a passport by Indian officialdom because of his father's early militancy.

As NYIFF director Aseem Chhabra explained, "There's not much of a local market for documentaries beyond television, and none of the channels will play an adult-rated film."

Kumar's protest against the "virtual banning" of his film struck a sympathetic chord among his peers, and in a triumphant ha"inshalla" ending, the film scored India´s 2011 National Award for Best Film on Social Issues.

Another film that caused a ruckus is 3. This time, though, the fuss has been cultural, not political. Aishwarya Rajinikanth Dhanush’s tragic love story features a song and dance number called Why This Kolaveri Di, which has racked up 15 million hits since its YouTube posting in November 2011.

Performed in an admixture of English and Tamil nicknamed “Tanglish,” the video has inspired untold versions – and flashdances -- all over the world, according to Chhabra. Also accounting for some of its viral oomph is the fact that that it stars the film’s male lead, Tamil heartthrob Dhanush. That and the fact that he’s married to Aishwarya, who herself sprang from classical dancing and the loins of actor Rajnikanth.

Whether regional-language, Bollywood or an artsy alloy, the stories behind the stories are half the fun of New York's -- and America's -- premiere showcase of Indian cinema. 

How fitting that the Festival's Centerpiece film encapsules a story within a story. Iconically titled Chitrangada, it fronts actor/director Rituparno Ghosh as a choreographer who plans to mount Rabindranath Tagore's dance drama Chitrāngadā on the 150th anniversary of the Bengali legend's birth.

As for the 100th anniversary of Indian cinema, this year's program "celebrates all that NYIFF finds inspiring about great films -- depth, character study, ingenious plots and riveting messages," said IACC Executive Director Aroon Shivdasani.

The full schedule of parties, panels, tributes and screenings is available at http://www.iaac.us/nyiff2012/index.htm

New York Indian Film Festival
May 23-27, 2012 

Opening Night Red Carpet Screening
Paris Theater
4 W 58th St 
New York, NY 10019

Festival Screenings (general)
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street
New York, NY 10013

Closing Night Red Carpet Screening
NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 Laguardia Place
New York, NY 10012 

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