With just three days left for the cinematic extravaganza called MAMI or the Mumbai Film Festival to unfold, excitement over the films that are being screened and star studded events is increasing by the minute.
If you have have gone through the schedule of Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, you would know how extensive the selection is this year. From the best of World cinema to Indian classics to new films premiering, there is something for every one.
So, to make things a bit simple, we pick the films that are creating maximum buzz this year and the ones that we are eagerly waiting to watch this year at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
Aligarh: Hansal Mehta's last outing 'CityLights' may have got mixed response from audience and critics alike, but Mehta's 'Shahid' still remains well etched in every cine lovers mind. The director's latest 'Aligarh' will be opening the festival and has stellar cast. Manoj Bajpayee plays a tainted professor of Aligarh University who is thrown out of his job when the authorities find out he is homosexual. Rajkummar Rao, Hansal's favourite actor, plays a journalist who narrates the professor's story to the world. Based on a real life incident, the film promises to be high on drama and with two extremely promising actors like Bajpayee and Rao playing key roles, the film looks promising.
Taxi: Iranian drama film directed by Jafar Panahi has won the prestigious Golden Bear at the 65th Berlin Film festival this year. If that is not a good enough reason to watch the film then perhaps the environment under which the film was made should appeal to most. Panahi was banned by the Iran government in 2010 from making films as they felt they were anti-Iran. Panahi made 'Taxi' under such a ban where he plays a Taxi driver and ferries around anonymous actors/passengers around town listening to their stories, confessions which makes for an interesting ride.
Dhanak: Nagesh Kukunoor always narrates stories that bring a smile to your face. His latest, ‘Dhanak’ opens the children’s film category called ‘Half-Ticket’ at MAMI, after lapping up appreciation and awards in International film festival circuit this year. A story of a 10-year-old girl who travels across Rajasthan with her blind 8-year-old brother to fulfill a promise, ‘Dhanak’ is aiming to impress young as well as adult audience at the festival.
Haraamkhor: Shweta Tripathi, who impressed one and all with her vivacious performance in ‘Masaan’ few months back, teams up with director Shlok Sharma and Nawazuddin Siddiqui for a very different love story in ‘Haramkhor’. A story where a 15 year old girl falls in love with her school teacher (played by Siddiqui), the film has been produced by Anurag Kashyap and Guneet Monga. Shot over 16 days, the film’s lead actors have already lapped up Best Actor awards in international film festivals. It’s now time to win accolades back home.
Rajkahini: National award winning director Srjit Mukherji pulled a casting coup of sorts when he cast almost half of the Bengali film industry in his period drama ‘Rajkahini’. With a superb starcast and story set in the partition time, Mukherji cannot go wrong , we think. The film has opened to packed houses in Bengal when it released during Durga Puja and has created quite a buzz outside the state for its goosebumps inducing song ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’ – a song written and composed by Tagore of which a part is our National Anthem. Even before the rest of the country has seen it, Mukherji has been roped in by Mahesh Bhatt to make a Hindi remake of the same.
He Named Me Malala: A documentary chronicling Malala Yousafzai’s life in Pakistan till she was shot at by Taliban and her subsequent recovery in UK may be a known story for many but nevertheless makes for a very inspiring film. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, the film has already won rave reviews in the west for its beautiful, honest narration.
Umrika: Director Prashant Nair’s film won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance. Featuring ‘Life Of Pi’ actor Suraj Sharma, the film is about a village boy looking for his lost brother who was last seen leaving for America.
Angry Indian Goddesses: Touted as India’s first female buddy film, Pan Nalin’s film has created a lot of buzz on social media ever since its first trailer came out. The film is impressing critics and fans alike at various film festival and just before its commercial release in India, the film will be screened at MAMI. Expect a quirky, fun film.
Dheepan: Directed by Jacques Audiard, ‘Dheepan’ won the Palm d’Or at the Cannes film festival earlier this year. The film narrates the inrguing story of three Tamil refugees who escape Sri Lankan cilvil war to find a better living in France.
Chauthi Koot: Gurvinder Singh’s film was one of the few Indian films that was screened at Cannes this year. The director’s previous film ‘Anhe Ghore Da Daan’ won rave reviews and several awards and expectations are high from this film as well. The film is based on two short stories from a book by the same name. It is set in the 1980s Punjab when the Sikh separatist movement was at its peak.
Other notable mentions: ‘The Lobster’, ‘Mountains May Depart’ and ‘The Forbidden Room’.
Some of the old classics by filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Guru Dutt, Chetan Anand, Ritwick Ghatak and Yash Chopra will also be screened at the festival this year. So you can choose between The Apu Trilogy, ‘Pyaasa’, ‘Komal Gandhar’ and ‘Heer Ranjha’ and ‘Deewar’ or you can watch all of them (if your time permits).
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