Anyone suggesting that child abuse, child labour, prostitution and homosexuality are among the problems rampant in India, would immediately be castigated as ‘Anti-Indian,’ who should be shunned and despised.
But hundreds of people, including the self-styled ‘positive thinking’ puritans will make a beeline to the cinema house where a film with these as the core themes is screened. You would call it either hypocrisy or love for Bollywood, but the fact is that filmmakers alone have the freedom to discuss live issues.
I Am would undoubtedly become the film for discussion after it debuts at the Indian Film Festival 2011: Bollywood & Beyond, brought to Australia (Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide) and New Zealand (Auckland) by Mind Blowing Films Limited. The inaugural event at Hoyts Cinema at Sylvia Park on March 24 should create a sensation – that is what film festivals are supposed to do.
Juhi Chawla, one of the finest actors that Bollywood has seen in decades, has taken a bold step, with Director Ornirban Dhar to put together four stories that make I Am a consummate and perhaps controversial film. It may have themes and scenes that would make some self-styled people squirm but a true patriot is one who does not deflect from reality.
Juhi would be in Auckland with Onir to promote the Festival and explain perhaps why she decided to be involved in a tumultuous project. But if you were to ask real critics, they would say, ‘Well done.’ By the way, the success of a film does not necessary involve the box office.
No One Killed Jessica, another film that raked a widespread debate in India returns to Auckland as a part of the Festival, having been screened in the same theatre weeks earlier. The film, based on a true story, brought the justice system to revisit itself, is yet another assertion of the right over the wrong. The movie, as the real case, proved that justice prevails eventually, if not in the first instance.
Shah Rukh Khan’s My Name is Khan, Aamir Khan starrers Dhobi Ghat and Peepli Live, Ajay Devgan led Raajneeti and Guzaarish, featuring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai are also scheduled to be screened at the Festival.
Among the films that would be screened in the ‘New Zealand Premier Segment’ are It’s a wonderful Afterlife, Just Another Love Story, Mee Sindhutai Sapkal, Mirch, Udaan and West Is West.
