Film Festival and More....

1.11.2009
I am sure you are wondering what I have been up to, all this time. Well, I have been working hard. And not just on my flowers :). I was part of organizing an Indian Film Festival in Honolulu (Well, the name of the festival was 'Bollywood Film Festival', but I hate the term Bollywood so, I prefer calling it an Indian Film Festival). I was a film consultant there. This year, we had something for everyone. And that I think is the beauty of Indian cinema. We believe and our films prove that good cinema doesn't have to be boring. Nor do entertaining films mean bad cinema. We had some really great stuff throughout the festival. This year we included a lot of films that people did not expect to see - films that don't conform to the 'Bollywood' image :). And people were awed! And in today's movie 'Taare Zameen Par' (a heart warming story about a dyslexic child overcoming his disability), I could hear sniffles all around. People waited to see the end credits roll. There was not a single dry-eyed person after the film! Cinematically, the film is not perfect, but its heart is in the right place and sometimes that is what matters the most.... especially when we have ridiculous movies being churned out day-in, day-out (both here and in India). Coming to movies that have their heart in the right place, I can't help but mention.... yes.... SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.
I saw the film a few weeks back and took some time to recover from it. That is one film, I wished was made by an Indian. One film, that I would have thought that an Indian made, if I hadn't known better :). Danny Boyle does such a marvellous job of showcasing my country and its people! Dev Patel's 'Jamaal' just takes your heart away. And there's another thing Sarang and I were discussing... Danny Boyle comes from the UK and makes a film on India..... and .... he chooses AR Rehman (Composer) and Gulzaar (Lyrics)! Can't go wrong with that combination! :) And when Sukhwinder Singh sings 'Jai Ho', its pure Nirvana! SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is one movie that's made straight from the heart...
'Dil Se'.
Anyway.... the film festival was very successful and it just finished today. So, I now have a wee bit of time on my hands to blog :). So, watch out for more posts!

3 comments:

JuliaA said...

saved slumdog millionaire to my netflix queue for when it comes out on dvd. i love getting suggestions for interesting movies, because i watch a lot of dvds!

Debashri said...

If you are interested in Indian films (not the silly 'Bollywood'-ish stuff :) ), I can send you suggestions. When it comes to English language films, I usually stick to classics. I don't like most of the stuff they make these days :).
Slumdog Millionaire is a lovely, uplifting film. So far as the story is concerned, it is a fantasy. But the characters, the background.... they are all so real... a classic case of 'willing suspension of disbelief', if I may say so :)

Som's Studio said...

TZP is one of the best made films ever...its a great choice for an 'Indian' film festival (haha) because it simply does not follow the general notion of all 'Indian' films having blazing colors, song and dance sequences at the drop of a hat, and the protagonists romancing around trees ;-)
I am sure you made a wonderful selection.
I am saving Slumdog for a slightly warmer day. Can you believe that it is subzero temperature (Fahrenheit) here?