The 2016 Indian Film Festival has a great selection of movies too man to see over just a few days so I have a couple on my must see list. If only I could be in two places at one time! One of the ones that jumped out at me was Beeba Boys. My eyes alighted on these handsome men in colorful suits and I was intrigued. I must admit I thought the film was going to be a Bollywood comedy full of cute guys and dancing but instead this movie is gangsta like REAL gangsters based on violent Sikh’s that lived in Vancouver they were part of a ruthless gang! This looks like the modern Scarface I didn’t know I wanted to see! Than Island City with the two men looking totally beat down spoke to me since life is hard and sometimes you just want to give up! This woman director has made a film with three stories that speak to the human condition and it looks like it should be interesting to watch each story. I’m very excited that they have Brahman Naman at the festival since I heard about the big splash the film made at Sundance and it looks hilarious! This sex crazed comedy brings to mind all of the movies I saw growing up (16 candles, American Pie) the always had me rolling in my seat. Aligarh rounds out my must see list as I see the hard path so many of my LGBT brothers and sisters face as they fight for equality in India and yes in America too! Equality for all no matter sexual orientation!
Jeet Johar is a devoted single father, dutiful son and proud Sikh living in Vancouver. He is also the leader of a murderous, ruthless gang that controls the local drugs and weapons market. Warring with other Indo-Canadian and Asian gangs, the members of Jeet’s crew are sharply dressed, television friendly and unafraid to grab what they want in the face of a white, traditional culture that portrays them as weak and cowardly. However, the “Beeba Boys” (“Good Boys”) are tested when a new recruit is brought in to fight older established gangs and the police. Both begin to close in, threatening to tear the gang apart.
With driving bhangra beats, high fashion, profound treachery, shocking violence, guns and cocaine, internationally acclaimed director and IFFLA alum Deepa Mehta brings her bold, uncompromising vision to the world of organized crime. Loosely based on second and third generation Indo-Canadian gangs that came into notoriety in the 1990s, BEEBA BOYS follows the rich tradition of the gangster film but in a community and culture never before seen on screen.
The sprawling city of Mumbai plays host to three stories in Ruchika Oberoi’s masterful feature debut. First there is an office worker who toils in his soulless corporation’s cubicle farm, and is specially selected by the company to have a day of “fun.” In the second tale, a wife and mother unexpectedly finds relief from her tyrannical husband’s control, and decides to treat her family to a new television set, where they find joy and solace in a popular soap. Finally, a woman resigned to a loveless future in an arranged marriage finds new hope when she receives love letters from an unknown source.
Oberoi brilliantly plays with genre as her film effortlessly shifts from absurdist comedy to escapist fantasy to realist drama (there’s even a tinge of science fiction). Though each character’s journey is markedly different, their goals are similar: to push back against the demands forced on them without any regard for their personal desires. The solutions each of them finds are not always happy, but they punctuate rich and complicated journeys that are sure to stay in the mind long after the credits roll. Oberoi’s unique vision won the Best Young Director Award of the Venice Days section at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.
This year’s Sundance Film Festival heard non-stop buzz about director Q’s latest brazen cinematic provocation: a 1980s-set coming-of-age sex comedy. There’s much more on this film’s mind than young lust and sexual hijinks…but it does have plenty of that to spare!
When Bangalore University’s misfit quiz team wins a trip to the National Championships in Calcutta, the moment seems perfect to translate their new prestige into sexual conquest. Though the four young men – led by the titular Naman – possess book smarts and a formidable verbal wit, their skills in relating to the opposite sex are disastrous. Making matters worse, Naman has a preoccupation with the expectations of his caste, which throws a wrench into his every budding relationship. As the pointed one-liners fly and the carnal embarrassments pile up, Q’s direction pulsates with an unpredictable energy. His characters’ innermost desires manifest in vibrant animated sequences and unexpected musical interludes. It all adds up to an indelible portrait of young male libido that looks like a classic of the genre. What AMERICAN PIE did for homemade desserts, this film does for ceiling fans. And fish tanks. And refrigerators. And…
As any person paying attention to world news knows, the subject of gay rights in India has provoked heated debate in recent years. In 2009, the Delhi High Court struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized homosexual acts, only to see the law reinstated four years later by a Supreme Court decision. As protests over that unjust ruling rage on, Hansal Mehta’s timely new film arrives as a heartfelt but firm demand for the right to love.
Mehta and screenwriter Apurva Asrani find inspiration in the true story of Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, a linguistics professor at Aligarh Muslim University who faced suspension and possible termination due to his sexual orientation. Though many supporters rally to Siras’ cause, including a dedicated journalist played with great panache by Rajkummar Rao, Mehta and lead actor Manoj Bajpayee paint a portrait of the doctor as a gentle man more concerned with the beauty life and love have to offer rather than tooth-and-nail fighting over rights that no courts should be able to deny. Siras’ story is a heartbreaking reminder of the human cost of injustice, and inspires one of the most vital films to come out of India in recent years.
Hansal Mehta
Indian filmmaker, writer, actor and producer Hansal Mehta began his career in television with the series KHANA KHAZANA and later moved onto films such as JAYATE (1999) and DIL PE MAT LE YAAR (2000). He is best known for SHAHID, which won the 2013 National Film Award for Best Direction. His latest titles include CITY LIGHTS, and this year’s ALIGARH.
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