THE LATEST FROM BOLLYWOOD IN UK
Indian Film Festival to be held in London
30 June
London is going to host an Indian Film Festival for independent films made in India, to spread awareness about what is being called ‘non-Bollywood’ films. The festival will be held over a span of 5 days starting 15th of July to the 20th of July.
Novice Indian director, Dibakar Banerjee’s fairy tale romance Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (Love, Sex and Betrayal) will open the festival with a screening at Cineworld, Haymarket. The film has been making the rounds of several film festival circuits, like the Filmfest Munchen in Germany and has been critically acclaimed in India. Other movies lined up for the festival are Vihir (water well), City of Gold and Road to Sangam.
Festival Director Cary Rajinder Sawhney, says “Apart from just showing great movies, we also aim to help get these film talked about and screened more broadly in cinemas in the UK. London has a huge Asian audience for these movies, but many Brits would also like to see what’s going on in the 1.2 billion strong India today and cinema is a great way to do this”.
The festival is trying to portray a larger picture of Indian cinema, which is not just restricted to Bollywood. Publicity Manager Suman Buchar explains further:
“It’s not that we don’t like Bollywood, everyone in the UK loves Bollywood and it’s massive following can’t be denied. But these movies are those that rarely get recognised outside of the festival circuit, and I think they deserve some recognition.”
Indian demon comes to UK theatres
23 June 2010
Image courtesy: bollyspice.com
The much awaited Bollywood film Raavan, starring renowned actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and husband Abhishek Bachchan, saw a star-studded world premiere at the BFI, Southbank last week.
The event saw a full turnout from the Bachchan family who showed their support by joining the stars on the red carpet. In a show of Bollywood solidarity, reigning superstar Shahrukh Khan also made an appearance at the event.
“A lot of Bollywood films have premiered in London, but that is generally along with another one in Mumbai. This was the first time that a Bollywood film of this caliber had a world premiere outside of India” says Asad Shan, a London-based model and actor, who was an invitee to the event.
The event saw a huge turnout, including young teenagers who wanted to get a glimpse of the superstars. Online Indian community ‘Bollywood in London’ even announced a ‘mela’ (fête) for the event, which resulted in huge numbers camping at the venue in their finery.
“It is a little unusual that for the premiere the Raavan team opted for BFI Southbank rather than Leicester Square as a location. Perhaps it was to signify that the movie, which has been directed by Mani Ratnam, known for his critically acclaimed films, was an art film and not commercial cinema” says Steven Baker, a London-based Bollywood reporter.
Raavan is based on the mythological Indian epic Ramayan with a modern twist. The actual epic shows Ram as a righteous son, who wins over evil, in the form of the ten-headed demon- Raavan. The movie looks at the story from Raavan’s point of view.
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