High on Films @PVR ICON Infinty Mall (Andheri West) October 27TH & 28TH @ Jio MAMI Film festival

It certainly drives you mad the week  long  Jio MAMI film festival. With the challenges of a work week you can try and watch as much as possible of all  the 19 categories of films only over a weekend. And of course you wish that you could be there at all the venues .. But a reality check first and here’s an excellent article that can guide MAMI festival geeks..  

http://www.highonfilms.com/25-must-see-films-at-the-jio-mami-mumbai-film-festival-2018/

The article has guided us in choosing our pick for the coming weekend on 27^th and 28^th @PVR ICON Versova as we become literally wallflowers there…For all World Cinema lovers this is a real treat....

October 27^th

Our viewing list given below .. in a sequence

·       Bulbul Can Sing By Rima Das(Audi 1)

·       The Image Book by Jean-Luc Godard (Audi 2)
Switzerland, France | 84 mins

·      Azougue Nazaré(Audi 2)

             Tiago Melo Brazil | 80 mins

·        The Seventh Seal (Audi 4)

            Ingmar Bergman,Sweden | 97 mins

·        )Cold War (Audi 4)

            Paweł Pawlikowski ,Poland, France, UK | 88 mins

October 28^th

We herby solemnly take an oath to plant ourselves in Audi 3 if we get the tickets

·         The Heiresses (Audi 3)

Marcelo Martinessi

Followed by( in the same Audi)

·         Roma
Alfonso Cuarón
Mexico | 135 mins

We then proceed to our very own Indian

·         Anthology Of Shorts (Audi 3)
A Monsoon Date | An Essay Of The Rain
Tanuja Chandra | Nagraj Manjule
India | 47 mins

·         Ash Is Purest White

Jia Zhangke, China | 136 mins

·         Burning

Lee Chang-dong, South Korea | 148 mins

 (of course our respective day job takes precedence for the rest of the week J)

@mumbaifilmfestival @mamiwaitends  #JioMAMIwithStar2018

On Birthdays

On Birthdays

It’s another year .

A simple passage of time?

Or enriching moments

Make this thing called time and age

Of daily uplifting actions

Of planned routines that help

 Of the fun that flows unplanned

Of the wisdom that shines like a glint through the cracks

Like a ray of sun that lightens up the space wherever it falls

This is the routine

The fun

The action and thought

And above all love and kindness that shines bright

 With the experience and insight .

And makes you feel come rain or shine

I am always on a well lit way

The essence of all
This is your birthday :)

Lotus

Lotus in a pond

A stagnant pond has muck and all .

The lotus still blooms getting nutrients .

From the mess and muck .

 Growing tall and facing the sun .

Reaching out to get light from above .

 Stands tall and throws it’s radiance around .

Knows to sift through the mess and grow .

Thrive and spread joy .

It was its business to bloom and shine

Differing gods

There is an upper caste God .

And then there is a lower caste one .

Perhaps the upper caste one is kind and all knowing .

Dressed in finery and offered great food .

The lower caste one may have clothes or just bare .

 In lowly surroundings .

Where divinity doesn't matter and you don't care .

But it's God after all and you got to seek gains .

Takes time here like the slow moving local trains .

To please and propitiate .

We have different holy cows .

Needs different rituals and vows .

These are the lower and upper caste Gods .

And who said on earth God is one .

Have heard that In fact each galaxy has its own sun

The Walk

 It has been a long crazy walk .

 Probably a limp at times .

Sometimes put in the history dustbin as stupid talk .

But  the wheels were set in motion .

With multiple actors and varied hues .

The story began and the canvas grew .

As time ticked with a song here

A narrative there

 Action somewhere

The plot thickened ..

 The walk limp and run to freedom and equality

 Is still on like the daily ticking of the clock

( this on the journey to achieve any change/ on any revolutionary movement)

Bouquet of Emotions Chance Encounters & Wait @Jagran Film Festival-Mumbai

About 18 to 19 hours of uninterrupted  cinema and more cinema over the weekend ..As the memories are still fresh my  mind prompts me to write about my experience

Good cinema is a bouquet of emotions and thoughts .For cinema buffs the the Jagran film festival(Mumbai edition-Fun Republic Andheri) that concluded on 30^th September then had an eclectic mix of movies, documentaries and shorts..A  large enough bouquet.

In such festivals a great treat awaits us  as you can glance thru the locales and emotions that a character goes through the busy streets of Buenos Aires , to the scenic locales of Himachal to the madness  that is Mumbai. Female directors  as I observed ruled the roost at Jagran Film festival .Not that the male directors weren’t good. Amongst the plethora of films that we saw over the weekend (managing work and film balance:)) a  few that stay with me….

Amo Akka ek se(we are all one) literally sent a shiver down the spine and gave goosebumps as it chronicled the  fight for basic rights and land by an illiterate but strong tribal woman leader- Jhilabai all of 89!Pratibha Sharma is indeed a very talented director and she depicted not just the collective fight but a range of emotions from loss to victory ,resilience and patience .A chance meeting with Pratibha Sharma made us realise that she went through five long years of work to make this  documentary shot in the Satpura range.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li6Th71gPwo

(you can watch the documentary promo here)

A chance technical glitch took all of us to the screening of Ribbon by Rakhee Sanidhya which addressed the challenges of gender discrimination at work and child abuse –a horrific evil that has sadly enough become a permanent feature of our society. The subject was very sensitively handled and the lead actors Kalki Koechlin and Sumit Vyas were amazing.In the audience interaction some questions were surprisingly  asked if the problem of child abuse really exists .. To which my friend promptly told me that the concerned person seems to be living underground not aware of the reality around him..

Counterfeit Kunku by Reema Sengupta with its catchy title,moving theme and innate pathos stole everyone’s heart.It is about a single woman’s struggle to find a rented tenement as generally rented houses are denied to single folks( and if I may add in many localities also based on caste, religion , food preferences etc ).She then wears kunku(sindoor/ vermilion) and dresses as a married lady and manages to get a house

Maya was one of the shorts that delineated the story of a fiercely independent woman , love , longing and struggle to build new relations even as the earlier ones get entangled in myriad emotions and feelings.

A few notable ones were:- Las Acacia-an Argentine movie which  depicted a range of emotions from loss to wait and hope, The Dawn-an Assamese film which dealt with grief, loss and again revival of hope, Vodka Diaries – a Hindi psycho thriller that revived memories of European cinema .Juze-a Konkani film which tackled the topic of exploitation, moral depravation and a flicker of hope toward the end!

Then there  were endless shorts and other movies which marked the entry of many young and talented Directors. It was heartening to know that good cinema is alive and kicking and there is a whole new generation ready to take the mantle ahead.

The festival ended with a film by Anurag Kawatra – Kuch Der aur (Wait a while)which dealt with the rather sensitive topic of a young boy’s life, associated ups and down and coming of age in the bylanes of Chandni Chowk!  As you reflect you realize there is a wait associated with each turn that life takes whether it is the protagonist's or yours. A sudden discovery ,a loss, search, wait and again revival of hope even as the protagonist  makes new associations , loses them , gets them back..chance encounters and all and the wait continues .. Well till the next Film Festival for cinema buffs likes us .. and no prizes for guessing that it is the MAMI Film Festival in October end..

Partner or rather Partners now in Crime-Asmita Sen and Anita Sachedev

#jagranfilmfestival #cinemabuffs #waitingforMAMIfilmfestival