I Am Life: Films SHADES OF GREY Review of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles?

By Shekhar Deshpande

ilm festivals have become major spec- tivals serve many functions: they shape tacles of our times. They affect the how communities come together, how business, culture and commerce of they reassert themselves and how they F films. As central occasions to embrace connect to their own heritage. For com- cinema, they thrive on the hunger of munities in diaspora, those attempting to cinema-lovers to nurture their tastes and find home away from home, film festivals passion for films. By some accounts, there offer spaces, opportunities for revelry, pa- are 7,000 film festivals around the world, tronage of their own artists and moments in virtually every corner, from Bedouin of communion. This function is not un- tents to the glossy beaches of the French like that served by religious or traditional Riviera, from your own neighborhood to festivals, which remind us who we are major cities on all continents. even in the midst of a life that rarely con- The festivals influence the shaping of nects to traditional elements. cultural identities, well beyond their role Thus, in India, a film festival in Kerala in forging connections between the film- celebrates films from around the world, making, marketing and finance commu- but it also brings together the local film nities. To some, that function of commu- crowd in the name of cinema. There are nity building is as much a mirage as the film festivals in New Delhi and Mumbai, goal of nurturing the love of cinema is but also in Gauhati and Kanpur. Nearly overshadowed by the crass commercial- every IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) ism that parades at these spectacles. And has a cultural festival in which films play yet, as major global phenomenon film fes- a major part. Life: Films

Outside India, much like other dia- sporic communities around the world, we have film festivals in New York, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc. dedicated to films from India. This ought to be a curious development. How in the age of the cheap DVDs available in grocery stores, the large repertoire of Indian films at Netflix, the ease of online streaming services and cable/ satellite channels, can we still have film festivals that prompt us to get out of our homes and onto the streets for a couple of dozen films in the midst of a work week? The Indian Film Festival of Los An- geles (IFFLA), held from April 12-17, in Hollywood, just a few blocks from the tourist attractions of the Kodak Theater and the walk of fame had all the trim- Robot/Endhiran mings of film festivals — the red carpet, award, etc. It featured films you are not likely to find in your neighborhood In- Ganesh Boy Wonder dian grocery store. That is the first dis- tinguishing feature of this festival. Bol- lywood cinema did not figure into the festival, except in a strategic way. There was plentiful of it outside the event. A festival of Bollywood films would mean a lot less in this already crowded world of that cinema. For the most part, IFFLA is about independent cinema. This commitment to cinema that is different from the usual fare is a strate- gic contribution this film festival makes to our understanding of ourselves. Pro- gramming is at the heart of the identity of a film festival. Here, the program- That Girl in Yellow Boots mers, six of them, each assigned to a separate category, from shorts to docu- mentary to feature films, provide a di- rection to the festival that appears to be a strategic compromise between the need to highlight talented works outside the mainstream — “India-centric” films produced by North American as well as diasporic filmmakers — and the desire to attract a broader audience to what has become a major event for the Indian community on the West Coast. Thus, there is Bollywood by Night, a series of screenings late at night, past 9 p.m., showcasing the recent favor- ites from the native film making indus- try that has become a global phenom- Life: Films enon. Rajnikanth’s megabuster Robot/ The festival’s deft time the final screening of Disney’s Zo- Endhiran festival had attendees wait in kkomon arrived, the festival had cap- long lines and forced the organizers to programming and tured the diversity of the overseas In- add extra screenings. Kiran Rao-Amir strategies marks it as an dian community, reflecting its abiding Khan’s Dhobi Ghat/Mumbai Diaries and event that is situated in one interest in knowing more about India, Maneesh Sharma’s Band Baaja Baaraat/ while exploring the talents, background The Wedding Planner in the Bollywood world while speaking for and the realities back home and here. by Night program brought out second many. Christina Marouda, executive director generation Indians, who also made a and the founder of IFFLA, said in an party out of the night. Two very rich notto’s Pink Saris, Srinivas Krishna’s interview that the intent of the festival programs of short films showcased a Ganesh Boy Wonder and Bill Bowles and was to provide exposure to films “that diverse selection of films from India, Kenny Meehan’s Big in Bollywood. To- needed a platform.” film students in the U.S., as well as film- gether, the films demonstrated a mature Marouda sees this festival as estab- makers from Pakistan and Canada. The growth of the documentary form. lishing its own “niche,” and broaden- broad palette suggested that program- The festival’s core focus was repre- ing its appeal in the South Asian com- ming is a strategy rather than a clear sented by films like Murali Nair’sLaadli munity. Indeed, the program included commitment to themes. Laila (Virgin Goat), Anurag Kashyap’s a perceptive and thoughtful short film The festival was a stage for remark- That Girl in Yellow Boots, Aparna Sen’s by a Pakistani filmmaker, Iram Parveen able documentary works: Phil Cox’s The An Unfinished Letter, Nila Madhab Pan- Bilal, titled Poshak/Façade that cap- Bengali Detective, Sonali Gulati’s I Am, da’s I Am Kalam, Vikramaditya Mot- tured the search of the inner self in the Sweta Vohra’s Pink Chaddis, Kim Longi- wane’s Udaan and Onir’s I Am. By the midst of a culture that demanded every- thing from an artist. IFFLA, which Marouda claims is the “premier” Indian film festival in the U.S., maintains a strongly cosmopoli- tan outlook with feet firmly grounded in films from and about India. Marouda herself is a Greek immigrant, arriving in this country some 11 years ago, steer- ing this festival for the past nine years. The other organizers of the festival are a multi-cultural bunch too; revealing how the centrality of the Indian films is nurtured and promoted by others in one of the major cities in the U.S. Marouda said the festival received nearly 400 film submissions this year, of which just 30 were included in the program. She said the festival gives “confidence that there is good quality film making in India,” the audience looks forward to the event each year and is “aided by a communi- ty-family of organizers” that is passion- ate about its mission. The festival’s deft programming and strategies marks it as an event that is situated in one world while speaking for many. Indian Americans aren’t all wedded to Bollywood and neither is India all about Bollywood. The dia- sporic community of Indians has been a vibrant component of world cinema. From Mira Nair to Gurinder Chadha The Bengali Detective and Deepa Mehta, there is a sizeable body of work by filmmakers outside of Life: Films

India, with their roots firmly in their It is hard to read the minds needs to see this as a sign of possibilities home culture and their intersections to support good cinema that is not all with other cultures. It is by now a truism of the filmmakers who work song and dance and fights and bloody to say that there isn’t just one image of by raising their own funds or sexual fantasies. India (shining or otherwise!), but mul- and making their own way The divide between the sensible or tiple images. We don’t know of any other good cinema — the kind supported by diaspora as vibrant in cinema. In addi- in the industry. film festivals and mainstream cinema tion, Indian culture continues to form — couldn’t be clearer in an encoun- the center of artistic, cultural and po- nights. ter during a seminar organized as part litical concern of filmmakers, diasporic An event on this scale and of this na- of the event. Gulshan Grover, star of or otherwise. IFFLA is a testimony that ture is always a mixed bag. One of the many Bollywood films and now in Nila the community hungers for filmmakers common laments in festival circles is Madhab Panda’s I Am Kalam, rose from outside Bollywood, despite all the glam- that these festivals rarely focus on the the audience to ask questions of panel- or and money the industry attracts. filmgoer. Instead, the festivals have be- ists that included Abhay Kumar, Nisha The audience for the event includ- come marketing and finance extrava- Ganatra and Vikramaditya Motwane. ed the party-crowd that headed for ganzas and platforms to launch films. While Grover didn’t forget to emphasize frankies, dosas and biryanis from the For an “ethnic” film festival held in the his “generosity” in supporting an “alter- trucks parked on Sunset Boulevard in filmmaking capital of the world, it is native” film like I Am Kalam, he asked the evenings. There is something about hard to resist these temptations. if the independent filmmakers always eating a heavy meal at that late hour, Executive Director Marouda said that dream of casting a famous star in their particularly outside the movie theater, IFFLA has launched a film fund to “dis- films. His other question went further. that ought to remind one of home. The cover” and support talent with fund- He suggested, nonchalantly, that inde- festival organizers kept alive a loyalty ing for their projects. It isn’t clear if this pendent filmmakers usually have only through Twitter and Facebook, with will instill a certain aesthetic that is one film in them and then burn out. posts and updates about goings-about diasporic or committed to the concerns It is hard to read the minds of the and last minute recommendations and of the community abroad. Many of the filmmakers who work by raising their impulses. A soundstage outside the the- directors were introduced as “alum- own funds and making their own way in ater kept the hum on music and dance. ni” of IFFLA (Vikramaditya Motwane the industry. The panelists, successful Inside, stars like Gulshan Grover and — Udaan and Geeta Malik — Trouble- and brilliant in their own work, seemed Anupam Kher hobnobbed with up and maker). If 400 filmmakers knocked on hesitant to answer his questions. It was coming filmmakers. For the media and IFFLA’s door, it is clear that the choice an instructive moment. It is alarming for the stars themselves, there is the in programming influenced the kind that those who have found a way to red carpet on the opening and closing of films accepted here. The community make money in mainstream cinema

I am Kalam

Dhobi Ghat/Mumbai Diaries Life: Films harbor some distaste for art that does The very term “Disney ney does best. But the idea that Disney not correspond to their own and that will now produce films from around good work must be pursued without World Cinema” was chilling the world, reproducing heroes and for- much support for hiring scriptwriters enough to warn us that mulas that have been established in the or cinematographers, let alone publicity cinema is about to go West and then market their own stories machinery to promote their films. They to people of different cultures is abnor- are not looking for glamor, because the same way as “world mal. No one can accuse Disney of be- that isn’t the end for the creative world. music,” catering and ing subtle. But the ease with which we They may have more in them, but they molding to the taste of the subscribe to this idea and take pride in get exhausted begging and struggling the claim that we are the first in mak- for a place in a noisy world of ruthless large markets in the West. ing a native-planted superhero suggests competition. The questions reflect, un- that we have become so drunk by the wittingly or otherwise, a filter through between Bollywood and Hollywood has attractions of the marketplace that na- which the mainstream film industry become. It was hard to discern they were tive voices, independent expressions looks at filmmakers who make mean- two different, separate worlds. are likely to be drowned further by this ingful films, pitifully and patronizingly The film offers villains and side char- coming juggernaut. at the same time. acters that belong to both soils at the The very term “Disney World Cinema” The final closing night featured a same time, blending one into another. was chilling enough to warn us that world premier of Zokkomon, a live-ac- There’s that kicking-the-behind capac- cinema is about to go the same way as tion Disney production that boasts the ity of the superhero and the swift, dra- “world music,” catering and molding first superhero based in India. The film matic resolution of evil deeds to assure to the taste of the large markets in the is about to be released in India and IF- us that we are watching a symbiosis of West, suffocating original and native FLA was the prime venue to introduce it the two worlds. But that was the least voices. It is hard to overstate the glee to the overseas Indian audience. Need- disturbing feature of the evening and in Anupam Kher’s presence after the less to say, the house was packed for the the film will no doubt do very well. The screening (he performs a dual role in screening. The movie features a child alarming aspect came in the introduc- the film, the hero’s mentor and the bad superhero who acquires powers that are tory remarks by Jason Reed, executive guy — the uncle of the child who be- a cross between Iron Man and Batman, vice president and general manager of comes Zokkomon). It was equally hard mentored by a wizard with a revenge Walt Disney Studios International Pro- to observe the wave of disappointment, to settle against a local bad man. The ductions who announced that Disney one would guess, in the hearts of the film opens in a Disney-like amusement would soon launch a new brand this many filmmakers in the audience, who park, with a song-and-dance routine that summer called Disney World Cinema. had made meaningful films with such demonstrated how perfect the marriage Of course, Disney will do what Dis- struggle.

Peepli Live Band Baaja Baaraat/The Wedding Planner