The second annual Indian Film Festival of Melbourne takes on added significance in 2013, with the Centenary of Indian Cinema being lauded across the globe. Australia's premiere celebration of Indian film culture will honour the milestone with one of the largest retrospectives ever programmed.
“Obviously, we wanted to do something very, very special,” says festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange.
Beginning May 3 in Melbourne, the organising committee secured landmark works like Franz Osten's epic drama Achhut Kanya (The Untouchable Girl, 1936). Vishnupant Govind Damle and Sheikh Fattelal's mystical retelling of the life of one of the nation's great saint poets, Sant Tukaram (Saint Tukaram, 1936), Raj Kapoor's socially-aware romantic drama Awaara (1951), and Kamal Amrohi's much-loved 'hooker with a heart of gold' story, Pakeezah (1972). In total, 15 films representing Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Marathi and Bengali dialects will screen as part of the strand; the late Yash Chopra's 1975 blockbuster, Deewar, will close the event.
Lange is most proud of the 100 year-old film that has been chosen for the opening night event, Dhundiraj Govind Phalke's 40-minute silent short from 1913.
“We are thrilled that we were able to get Raja Harishchandra (pictured), which is the first film ever made in India,” she tells SBS Film. “And what makes it particularly poetic is that we are screening it exactly 100 years to the day after it was first screened in Bombay, which makes it very special indeed.”
RELATED: Seeds of Indian Cinema grew from one photographer's obsession
In addition to Deewar, the festival will screen six of the late Chopra's films at La Trobe University, where the screening room has been renamed in his honour. Amongst them will be his final film, Jab tak hai jaan (As Long As I Live, 2013), the enormous hit Veer-Zaara (2004) and a collection of his earliest works, including Kabhi Kabhie (Sometimes, 1976), Silsila (1981) and Lamhe (Moments, 1991). Says Bhowmick Lange, “Pamela Chopra, the wife of the late Mr Yash Chopra, is here to support the festival on behalf of her late husband. It will be a very special, very sentimental celebration.”
Also the focus of a retrospective strand will be the superstar fondly known as 'The Big B', Amitabh Bachchan, who, it is hoped, will attend the event. Enjoying a resurgent interest amongst western audiences in anticipation of his role in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, festival goers can see eight of his past hits, including Abhimaan (Pride, 1973), Amar Ackbar Anthony (1977), Namak Halal (Faithful, 1982), Satte Pe Satta (Seven on Seven, 1982) and Paa (Father, 2009). His narration can also be heard on Ashutosh Gowariker's Oscar-nominated cricket drama, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001), which is also getting a rare big-screen showing as part of the Centenary selection.
Mitu Bhowmick Lange took on the responsibility of representing Indian Cinema's 100th birthday with determination, but it has not been easy. “Oh God, I think I have aged 100 years, trying to get all the rights and assurances together,” she laughs. “But it has been very rewarding being able to program such films.”
Some of Bhowmick Lange's programme is specifically targeted at non-Indian audiences – a sector of the modern movie-going demographic that has steadily been on the increase in past years. “We have always believed that film is a universal language, that break barriers and reach out to all the film community,” she says. “And that's been a main focus as we've seen growth in the non-subcontinent communities who come and support the festival.”
Returning for the festival are recent first-run Bollywood titles such as Kabir Khan's Ek Tha Tiger, Anurag Basu's charming Barfi! and Reema Kagti's Talaash.
For the more seasoned viewer of the rich cinematic culture of India and its many regions, the festival has programmed a large sidebar labelled 'Beyond Bollywood', featuring the Australian premiere of 13 diverse titles. Here, audiences will explore the film sectors outside of Mumbai's crowd-pleasing aesthetic, and may enjoy the Punjabi language film Anhey Ghorhey Da Daan (Alms for the Blind Horse), Koormavathara (The Tortoise, An Incarnation) featuring the Kannada dialect or the Malayalam film, Ithramathram (Postscript). This section will also screen Mira Nair's US feature, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), starring Riz Ahmed and Kate Hudson, and the delightful children's fable Gattu (2011), for which director Rajan Khosa was APSA nominated.
The Indian Film Festival has capitalised on the strong ties established by Bhowmick Lange in her role as managing director of Mind Blowing Films, the largest local distributor of Indian films. At a gala launch in Bombay on March 9, it was announced that Vidya Balan, star of The Dirty Picture and one of the biggest stars in Indian cinema, would be assuming ambassadorial duties for the 2013 festival. She will be joined in Melbourne by veteran actress-turned-director Simi Garewal, acclaimed choreographers Prabhudeva and Farah Khan, director Kabir Khan and filmmaker Onir, whose film I Am rattled the censorship cage in his homeland in its depiction of homosexuality and AIDS-related issues. Local documentarian Penny Vozniak will also be attending with her acclaimed documentary Despite the Gods, the story of American iconoclast Jennifer Lynch's efforts to make a female-empowerment horror film within the Bollywood sector.
The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne takes place from May 3-22. Visit the official website for more information.
