The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles - Beyond Bollywood

According to their official website, "The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles is a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and diverse culture by providing the public with a selection of films from and about the Indian diaspora by Indian and International filmmakers." And that is just what they did.

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles provided the impetus and ArcLight Cinemas provided the venue for many filmmakers of various backgrounds to showcase their talents. It is the festival's hope that their efforts will be well-received by not only the Indian public, but an audience that appreciates good storytelling and good filmmaking, one that has a different perspective, in other words, a slightly "Indian" hued lens, but not necessarily so.  There were filmmakers from other backgrounds as well.

The popularity of Indian cinema, and the boundaries of its imagination, extend infinitely beyond the good-humored and at times narrow-minded confines of Bollywood (the name given to Hollywood's counterpart in India; film industry headquarters located in Mumbai) , so one would be remiss in dismissing all of Indian cinema as another song and dance movie set in the rain. Although, there is plenty of that to go around as well.

The Festival, which opened on April 17th at ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood, provided Opening Night Gala entertainment in the form of a DJ set by The Bombay Dub Orchestra, along with The Taal Dance Company.

The Opening and Closing Night Galas, each began with a screening of a feature film, in the case of the opening night, it was Jag Mundhra's drama PROVOKED, starring Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson and Nandita Das, followed by receptions that included music and dance performances from the Indian subcontinent. 

During the festival, various Indian-influenced art and music exhibitions were on display. The six-day festival closed on Sunday, April 22 with Rajnesh Domalpalli's VANAJA, Best Debut Feature winner at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The most intriguing aspect of the festival was the "Question and Answer Sessions", where featured Directors, producers and cast, were  invited to present their films and share their experiences with the audiences.

Some of the films at the festival included:

VALLEY OF FLOWERS by Pan Nalin, was billed as a "great Asian love story" set in the Himalayas.

NAME DAY by Nikhil Prakash, delves into the turbulent waters that are the racially charged times of  status post 9/11.  The movies attempts to tackle complex issues and endeavors to provide depth and  understanding in confusing times. The movie's central character is an agnostic, who happens to be from a muslim family.

When his brother his brutally beaten in a hate crime, his values and beliefs are brought to a crossroads, and he must choose which road his life is going to go down. Will he choose the road of understanding or will choose vengeance.  Will the agnostic become a believer? The movie does seem to redeem itself as does the main character, as he heeds the lesson of his brother, who says, "Our Lord resides in them as well." 

ARRANGING LOVE, Sheila Jayadev, deals with the negative perceptions surrounding "Arranged Marriages" that are more commonly associated within Indian culture. The film seeks to convey that they are, in effect, "introductory arrangements", i.e. a way to meet prospective partners. The documentary follows three couples who are about to get married under different circumstances.

Sunil , one of the central characters, who is of Indian descent, is about to get married to an Australian woman of his own choosing. "The exile is the greatest patriot", meaning that those Indians who no longer reside in India, are the very same poeple who cling vehemently to the customs and traditions, that their fellow compatriots in the "homeland" no longer even espouse.  Despite his fears that his Indian parents will not approve of his marriage, his wife points out, "we received no negative reactions from Indians."

The power of imagination and a sense of adventure are evident throughout Gitanjali Rao's animated short, PRINTED RAINBOW.  "The Windows look out into more windows with more desolate lives.  The old woman, however, has a secret window: her precious collection of match boxes. Their printed labels open into a myriad of exotic worlds. The cat is the sole companion in her explorations of these magical worlds where beauty, imagination and wonder triumph over the insignificance of her existence."

The blue collar taxi cab driver seems to be the universal symbol of downtrodden working class that seeks to rise above its surroundings. So, the audience will certainly appreciate SHANU TAXI, by Vasant Nath, where the theme of a "a dollar and a dream" is here realized and presented as "a cell phone and a dream".

In BARE, Santana Issar presents the heartbreaking story of a family torn apart by alcoholism as told in the unique manner of old family videos with a voice-over of the family's telephone conversations with each other.

The story of the "wannabe" actor in UNDISPUTED, by Vikramaditya Motwane, however, should resonate, the loudest, with the crowds in Hollywood, as an aspiring actor, who looks to break on to the other side, faces obstacles that are beyond his control.  What he does fail to realize, until the very end,  is that Bollywood, more so than Hollywood, carries the insurmountable stench of nepotism. However, what he lacks in awareness and connections, he makes up for in persistence! A lesson for us all.

The MORNING FOG, by Aminta Goyel,  is a short  film of  a Bombay girl who gets lost in the jungle where a tiger is roaming about.

And fans of Indian cinema proper, i.e. Bollywood, certainly appreciated the presentation on big screen of DEEWAR, by Yash Chopra, starring Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. The plot revolves around two brothers, one a criminal and one, of course, a police officer. To say that the movie was a phenomenal hit in 1975 India, would be a gross understatement.

Other movies presented included ART IN EXILE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT AFGHANISTAN, OFFICE TIGERS and ANAMIKA. Regardless of your taste and the type of movie you are looking for, the festival provided it in spades. It also hopefully provided a great launching for  the careers of new and talented Indian filmmakers !