Five Indian films under World Cinema category at 53rd London Film Festival

Shyam Benegal, whose Welcome to Sajjanpur was showcased at the prestigious London Film Festival last year, returns with a new comedy on Indian village life titled Well Done Abba. The film revolves around Armaan Ali, played by Boman Irani, who is a middle aged driver for a city executive. He takes a month’s leave and, Read More">Read More

Shyam Benegal, whose Welcome to Sajjanpur was showcased at the prestigious London Film Festival last year, returns with a new comedy on Indian village life titled Well Done Abba. The film revolves around Armaan Ali, played by Boman Irani, who is a middle aged driver for a city executive. He takes a month's leave and, when he arrives back at work three months later, his boss, understandably, threatens to sack him. To save his job, charming Armaan spins a fabulous story of why he was delayed in getting his daughter married. Fable or truth, the boss isn't quite sure, but the story revolves around a central question - how a well, once dug, can be stolen? Unearthed in Benegal's part comedy, part political satire, is a hilarious and poignant depiction of the double dealing and corrupt middle men intrinsic to Indian rural politics. Meanwhile, at the heart of the story is a delightful romance between Armaan's daughter, played by Minissha Lamba, and a young, honest mechanic, played by Sammir Dattani, who saves the day. Benegal paints a wonderful and believable tableau of country life with an empathetic understanding of the cultures of Indian Muslim communities. This is Sammir Dattani and Minissha Lamba's first film to be showcased at the prestigious festival. Well Done Abba is to be screened on Sunday, the 18th of October at 18:30 UK time and Tuesday, the 20th of October at 15:15 UK time

Five Indian filmmakers under one roof for the first time at the BFI 53rd London Film Festival. Under the World Cinema category at this years London Film Festival, Indian Film Industry takes centre stage as four experienced, talented and versatile filmmakers, Shyam Benegal, Sudhir Mishra, Read More">Anurag Kashyap and Buddhadeb Dasgupta get ready to showcase theirRead More

Five Indian filmmakers under one roof for the first time at the BFI 53rd London Film Festival. Under the World Cinema category at this years London Film Festival, Indian Film Industry takes centre stage as four experienced, talented and versatile filmmakers, Shyam Benegal, Sudhir Mishra, Anurag Kashyap and Buddhadeb Dasgupta get ready to showcase their creativity with their respective films, Well Done Abba, Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, Gulaal, The Well and The Window to the world audience. While Anurag's critically acclaimed film Gulaal is to be screened on 17th, 19th, 21st and 25th of October at 12:30, 18:30, 15:15 and 16:45 UK time respectively, below is a brief synopsis of what's in-store for the world audience.

Master filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta returns to the Festival with a tale of conflicting dreams. Bimal (Indranil Sengupta) is a good looking but unfulfilled dreamer, who works in a dead-end job. He lives at his girlfriend Meera’s (Swastika Mukherjee) flat. She has a bright career in a call centre and when Meera gets pregnant, Read More">her familyRead More

Master filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta returns to the Festival with a tale of conflicting dreams. Bimal (Indranil Sengupta) is a good looking but unfulfilled dreamer, who works in a dead-end job. He lives at his girlfriend Meera's (Swastika Mukherjee) flat. She has a bright career in a call centre and when Meera gets pregnant, her family tries to talk her out of it, but she adores Bimal and wants to marry him. One day, by chance, Bimal visits his old school in the country and he quickly gets lost reminiscing about his childhood. The school is now run-down, and a huge ornate window, which had inspired him as a youth, has been removed. He promises to buy a new window for the school, but as his meager finances dry up, he secretly spends his and Meera's joint savings. Bimal delivers the window, but the school authority refuses it. Worse still, Meera finds out about the money and vows to abort their child. Dasgupta's poetic eye delicately captures the nuances of emotion, while his poetic visual style and pacing captures the beauty of the Bengali landscape, making the ordinary seem magical. The Window is to be screened on 27th and 28th of October at 20:45 and 18:30 UK time.

But it’s just not the Hindi films that are going to shine at this year’s London Film Festival. To join the bandwagon, a Marathi film titled The Well directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni makes it the 5th Indian Film to be showcased at the fest. The Well is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale, Read More">stunningly shot amongstRead More

But it's just not the Hindi films that are going to shine at this year's London Film Festival. To join the bandwagon, a Marathi film titled The Well directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni makes it the 5th Indian Film to be showcased at the fest. The Well is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale, stunningly shot amongst the grandeur of the rolling Indian plains. Young Sameer leaves the city with his parents to visit their country family who are preparing for a wedding. But for Sameer there is only one aim: to meet his cousin and best friend Nachiket. The two adolescent boys are inseparable and Sameer looks up to his older, free-thinking cousin who teaches him many truths as they stand at the cross-roads of their lives with the innocence of childhood slipping away. This change is echoed by the fate of Sameer's female cousin who is being forced into a marriage for the families' petty gains. Nachiket becomes increasingly distraught by this marriage until he can take it no longer, leading to an action that will change Sameer's young life forever. Kulkarni captures the subtle emotions and moods of his subjects, and their environment in a visual style reminiscent of the greats of Bengali art cinema, while he also explores the beauty of dosti (closest friends). One to watch!

With five big filmmakers representing India at the 53rd London Film Festival this year, one can surely state that Indian movies are making their presence felt globally.

Meanwhile, Read More">Sudhir Mishra spins his roller coaster ride at this year’s London Film Festival in the form of his slum saga titled Tera Kya Hoga Johnny (English title – Ride the Wave Johnny). This is Neil Nitin Mukesh and Soha Ali Khan’s first film to be screened at any prestigious film festival outside India. TheRead More

Meanwhile, Sudhir Mishra spins his roller coaster ride at this year's London Film Festival in the form of his slum saga titled Tera Kya Hoga Johnny (English title - Ride the Wave Johnny). This is Neil Nitin Mukesh and Soha Ali Khan's first film to be screened at any prestigious film festival outside India. The director tells a story of Johnny, a young boy from the Mumbai slums who dreams of escaping to Dubai, but who instead must deal drugs supplied by a local mafia don to make a living. Through this trade Johnny comes into contact with a range of diverse characters, each living out their own drama in the backstreets of the sleepless city. These include Parvez (Neil Nitin Mukesh), a young man trapped by circumstances, who is having an affair with the wife of a corrupt and dangerous cop. Then there is Preeti (Soha Ali Khan), a young model who lives with her druggy advertising boyfriend, whose life is spiraling out of control. As these and other characters' stories converge and slide inexorably into robbery, violence and murder, Johnny seizes his chance to make his dream. With mostly hand-held camerawork, and lighting not unlike Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love, this film is visually stunning. Ride The Wave Johnny is to be screened on 15th, 16th and 18th of October at 18:45, 13:00 and 16:00 hours respectively.