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Centenary Indian Film Festival,in BangkokINDIAN CENTENARY FILM FESTIVAL IN BANGKOK ( 19-21 OCTOBER)
Bangkok’s first-ever Indian Film festival opened yesterday, at the SF Cinema, Central World,to celebrate the Centenary of Indian Cinema. Similar Indian film festivals are going to held in other parts of the world,to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the world’s biggest movie industry. The Indian Centenary Film Festival in Bangkok,will all be 'free' screenings. The Opening film yesterday ( 18 October) was ‘MAQBOOL’ a brilliant psychological and action-packed thriller, which recreated Shakespeare’s Macbeth in India, through the dons of Mumbai’s notorious underworld. It’s a familiar theme in Bollywood cinema, but was presented with daring difference in director Vishal Bharadwaj’s film . The music director-turned film director ‘s oeuvre of cinema is small but startlingly strong , and have won both critical and box-office success. This film has been to many festivals, including Bangkok. The highlight of the film was its superb cast, from Irfan Khan in the title-role (Slumdog Millionaire) to actress Tabu playing the female lead, and internationally known Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri , as the crazy,corrupt cops. The other film that was screened yesterday, was RAJA HARISHCHANDRA, the first film made in India, a ‘silent’ ,black-and while movie, more important for its archival than cinematic value, but amusing and enjoyable ,all the same At this point, one wishes that the 2009 Indian film Harischandra Factory ,which delightfully captured the making of this ‘silent’ film, had been included in this Centenary Package of Indian films! Among the golden oldie films, at the Centenary Indian Film Festival, is legendary Indian director Satyajit Ray’s ode to music ‘ JALSAGHAR’ (Screening date-FRI 19 OCT, 2 pm ) , which created huge waves in Europe, for re-inventing the use of classical Indian music and dance, in Indian films. Famous British critic Derek Malcolm called it “ Ray’s most perfect film.” Then,there’s the rarely seen 1946 movie Dr KOTNIS KI AMAR KAHANI (Screening date- SUN 21 OCT-12 noon), directed by the greairector V. Shantaram, who also plays the lead. The moving film is based on the life of Dwarkanath Kotnis, an Indian doctor who worked in China during the Japanese invasion in World War II, when he fell in love with a Chinese girl ,and cured a terrible plague , but later ,fell a victim to it himself. There are also films by two popular old-world Bollywood actors, who died this year- the ever-green Dev Anand, and the ever-romantic Rajesh Khanna. The latter had a huge fan-following in Thailand, and one wishes his film ’ Haathi Mere Saaathi’ ,which was a huge ‘hit’ in Thailand, had been shown at this Festival, as just about every Thai seems to remember that ‘elephant-movie’! Anyway, his super-hit film ‘ANAND ’ ( Screening date- SAT 20 OCT, 5:05 pm) which introduced his arch-rival and future super-star Amitabh Bacchan to the screen, will be shown at the festival, which , with its moving story and memorable songs, will wring many hearts. The film was India’s Oscar-entry in 1971. Dev Anand’s super- hit film ‘GUIDE’ (Screening date-SUN 21 OCT, 5-20 pm) ,with its outstanding songs , starring the gorgeous Waheeda Rehman, is one of the great Indian movies of all time, and is a must-see movie , at this Festival. While these are the well-known old -world Bollywood movies , the Festival includes a super-hit contemporary Bollywood blockbuster HUM DIL SE CHUKE SANAM (Screeningdate,- FRI 19 OCT, 2 PM), by one of the mega directors of this era, Sanjay Leela Bhansali. It has a super-star cast of Salman Khan, Ajay Devgun, Aishwarya Rai. It’s the quintessential Bollywood love-triangle, with lots of songs, action, emotions , which would excite all diehard lovers of Mumbai’s films. The movie was a huge ‘hit’ both in India, and abroad ( infact, it was the third- largest money-grosser of all time,in India!)
To quote the famous film-publication Variety “ This three-hour spectacular is stuffed with songs, romance, comedy, devotional material , and color-soaked dance numbers that are huge even by Hindi standards! "
Then, there’s the new-age Bollywood film ‘CORPORATE’ ( Screening date- SUN 21 OCT, 2-30 pm) by iconic director Madhu Bhandarkar, whose reality-driven,urban stories and character s ( ‘Chandni Bar, Fashion, Page 3’ ) have set unique new trends in Bollywood cinema , and have been preserved by the Indian Film Archives. ‘ Corporate’ was based on the mega, real-life Coke-Pepsi war in India, which the Director confessed was his most difficult film to make. The movie stars many new-age Bollywood stars like Bipasha Basu (who won many awards for this film) , Rajat Kapoor, and the superbly talented Kay Kay Menon. In this new-age Bollywood genre, one would have also like to see the films of dynamic director like Anurag Kashyap,whose movies l (‘Dev D, The Girl in the Yellow Boots, Gangs of Wasseypur) have been screened at the top festivals of the world, like Cannes and Venice. He’s easily the cult-director of India,today. Last but not the least, are two ‘regional ‘ films by top directors of the regions, who are well-known on the international festival circuit, but not in Thailand. GULABI TALKIES ( Screening date- SAT 20 OCT, 2-40 pm) is by the best-known director in the Kannada language of Karnataka (Bangalore is its capital ) who was the progenitor of the parallel cinema in the region. He has valiantly been making thought-provoking movies, with limited funds, for more than three decades, which have been screened at festivals around the world, including Bangkok. The film is a warm ,moving tale of a lonely Muslim mid-wife , whose chief happiness lies in the soap-dramas she sees on her television set , which she ‘s so proud off, as she’s one of the few who owns one in her small town,. It attracts all her neighbours to her home, but they slowly stop coming, when communal problems occur in the town,. The last film in the Festival, is KANNATHIL MUTHAMITTAL (Screening date- SAT 21 OCT, 12 noon),in the Tamil language of Chennai. It’s directed by their best-known director Mani Ratnam, one of the few regional directors in the country who has both a national and international following. The film deals with a Tamil couple who adopt a child from neighbouring Srilanka. Things get complicated, when the child suddenly wants to meet her biological mother, during the time of the intense Srilankan civil war. The movie is studded with the high voltage drama, energy, emotions that only this vibrant director can pull off. The film stars two top Tamil stars, Madhavan, and Simran , with internationally acclaimed indie Mumbai actress Nandita Das, playing the biological mother. Ratnam’ s films are noted for their memorable music, and its none other than Oscar-winning AR Rahman ( Slumdog Millionaire) who scores the songs in this s film, which went to numerous festivals, from Jerusalem to Zimbabwe ,as also top festivals like Cannes and Toronto . In a country that produces more than 1000 films a year, it’s a near-impossible task to line up the Ten Best Films of the century. At the Press Conference prior to the Festival, the Indian Embassy confessed what a tough job it was ,and how this Festival was an attempt “ to reflect the diversity of the country.” Indian Ambassador HE Anil Wadhwa said the same, at the Opening event yesterday,which was attended by a large bunch of Thai stars. The Press Conference was attended by top Thai directors like Nonzee Nimibutr and Prachya Pinkaew ,as well as young,indie director Choyanop Boonprakob, and actress Ae Maneerat Khamoun, all diehard lovers of Indian cinema. Infact, Pinkaew,the director of action-packed movies like Ong Bak, is serious about shooting an action-packed Thai-Indian film, and was working at getting top Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif to play the lead. Suvanee Chinchiewchan,of the SF cinema group ,who have organised film festivals from many countries this year, was excited about holding the first-even Indian film festival in the city,and hoped the trend would continue.. With the SF Cinema group holding this Festival , and with the Major Cinema group screening Indian movies on a regular basis, it looks like ‘Incredible India’ is making a come-back in Thailand, cinematically speaking.
For more details,check-
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www.sfcinemacity.com
Pl also see- http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/leka/2012/10/19/entry-1 19.10.2012 | LEKHA SHANKAR's blog Cat. : actress Aishwarya Rai Ajay Devgun ambassador Amitabh Bacchan Anil Wadhwa Anurag Kashyap Bangalore Bangkok Bipasha Basu Bollywood cinema Cannes Cannes Chandni Bar China Choyanop Boonprakob Contact Details Critic Derek Malcolm Dev Anand Director energy Entertainment Entertainment Europe film director First-Ever Indian Film Festival in Thailand Harischandra Factory http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/leka/2012/10/19/entry-1 Human Interest Human Interest India Indian Cinema Indian Embassy Irfan Khan JÉRUSALEM Karnataka Katrina Kaif Kay Kay Menon Madhu Bhandarkar Major Major Cinema Mani Ratnam Mumbai Nandita Das Naseeruddin Shah Nonzee Nimibutr Om Puri Ong Bak Oscar Pepsi Person Career Prachya Pinkaew Quotation Rajat Kapoor Rajesh Khanna Salman Khan Sanjay Leela Bhansali SF Cinema Sun Tabu Ten Best Films Thailand The Indian Centenary Film Festival the SF Cinema group holding this Festival Toronto V. Shantaram Venice Vishal Bharadwaj Waheeda Rehman www.sfcinemacity.com   FESTIVALS
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SHANKAR LEKHA
I'm an Indian film-writer, based in Bangkok, and write for publications in India & Thailand. I also coordinate and curate film programs in the two countries, at cultural centres/clubs, film festivals. View my profile Send me a message Film InformationThe EditorUser contributions |