Tue 27 | 20:45 | Genesis
Wed 28 | 18:30 | Vue Screen 6

Director: Buddhadeb Dasgupta
Cast: Indranil Sengupta, Swastika Mukherjee, Tapas Paul
Writer: Buddhadeb Dasgupta
Country: India Running time: 105min Year: 2009

Master filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta returns to the Festival with a tale of conflicting dreams. Bimal is a good looking but unfulfilled dreamer, who works in a dead-end job. He lives at his girlfriend Meera's flat. She has a bright career in a call centre and when Meera gets pregnant, her family try 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 reminisicing 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 meagre 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 beauy of the Bengali landscape, making the ordinary seem magical.

Reviewed by Cary Rajinder Sawhney

Thu 15 | 18:45 | Vue Screen 9
Fri 16 | 13:00 | Vue Screen 5
Sun 18 | 16:00 | Vue Screen 6

Director: Sudhir Mishra
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Soha Ali Khan, K K Menon
Writer: Sudhir Mishra
Country: India, Running time: 115min Year: 2009

A new Slumdog Millionaire? Popular director Sudhir Mishra's rollercoaster-ride of a film tells 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 spiralling 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.

Reviewed by Cary Rajinder Sawhney

Sat 24 | 15:30 | Vue Screen 5
Mon 26 | 13:45 | Vue Screen 9
Tue 27 | 10:15 | Vue Screen 9

Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
Cast: Madan Deodhar, Alok Rajwade, Renuka Daptardar
Writers: Girish Pandurang Kulkarni, Sati Bhave
Country: India Running time:120min Year: 2009

Dazzling! Emerging filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni's feature 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!

Reviewed by Cary Rajinder Sawhney

Sun 18 | 18:30 | NFT1
Tue 20 | 15:15 | NFT1

Director: Shyam Benegal
Cast: Boman Irani, Minissha Lamba, Sammir Dattani
Writer: Ashok Mishra
Country: India Running time: 135min Year: 2009

Shyam Benegal, whose mega-hit film Welcome to Sajjanpur was showcased at the Festival last year, returns with a new comedy on Indian village life.

Armaan Ali, played by comic hero Boman Irani, 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 and a young, honest mechanic who saves the day. Benegal paints a wonderful and believable tableau of country life with an empathetic understanding of the cultures of Indian Moslem communities.

Reviewed by Cary Rajinder Sawhney

Sat 17 | 12:30 | Vue Screen 5
Mon 19 | 18:30 | Vue Screen 6
Wed 21 | 15:15 | Vue Screen 6

Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: K K Menon, Aditya Srivastav, Piyush Mishra
Writer: Anurag Kashyap
Country: India Running time: 136min Year: 2009

Anurag Kashyap is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of India's hottest young independent film directors. His first screening at the Festival is a power-packed and provocative mélange of political intrigue, corruption, love and deceit, sewn together with poetic, almost Shakespearean sensibilities and an evocative folk-music score.

Innocent college student Dileep arrives in the Rajishtan city of Jaipur where he is rescued from a college gang by Rananjay Singh, a rebellious son of a local raja (king). As the gang seek retribution the two men get protection from Dukey Bana, a local powerbroker, who draws them into a secret force of radical Rajputs struggling to secure independence for Rajisthan from the Indian Government and return the local raja to the throne.

Dileep is swept up by circumstance to contest the college elections on behalf of the separatist party, but as several royal contenders emerge and start to fight it out, the college and district explodes into a bloodbath from which an unexpected new leader emerges. Kashyap deftly explores the corruptive nature of power, and the conflicts created as modern India tries to contend with dark forces from its past.

Reviewed by Cary Rajinder Sawhney

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