What’s happening in the world of film and news on film site updates
Political lines drawn around hit film
BLOCKBUSTER ‘L2: Empuraan’ has become part of a raging culture war in India.
Right wing parties have criticised the film for its apparent references to the 2002 Gujarat riots and claimed it is “communal” and anti-BJP – against the party which Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads up currently. It continues to do brisk business across the world and is available to see in UK cinemas too.
The state chief Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of Kerala and the leader of the ruling Communist Party of India (CPI Marxist) went to see the film on Saturday (March 29) and praised it. He felt artistic freedom was coming under attack from political elements.
“The communal hate campaign against Empuraan and its creators is deeply disturbing,” he declared, taking to X to express his feelings.
The original Malayalam movie which is the second instalment of ‘Lucifer’ (2019) starring Mohan Lal, has enjoyed a spectacular opening. It is directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and written by Murali Gopy.
It appears to be on its way to becoming one of the biggest releases ever and a money spinner on its reported 100 Crore/£10 million budget. We will have more on this in our regular monthly roundup of box office news out of India – Bollywoood asianculturevulture vibes later today (31).
Mohan Lal himself recognised the hurt expressed in some quarters and it’s now being reported that the film will undergo 17 revisions or edits – it isn’t clear whether this will effect overseas screenings. The film has reportedly grossed $10m overseas and is in competition with Bollywood megastar Salman Khan’s Eid release, ‘Sikandar’.
Director Onir’s ‘We are Faheem and Karun’ shines at BFI Flare
MAKING an impression with his latest film was Indian director Onir – whose ‘We are Faheem & Karun’ screened at the BFI Flare Festival (March 19-30) and spoke to www.asianculturevulture.com about it briefly.
In the film, which is set on location in Kashmir in India, a security guard and a local returning to his family on holiday, from his studies in Kolkata, fall for each other.
It’s a tender, delicate, finely drawn film with strong performances from many local Kashmiri actors.
Onir hopes to get a UK distributor and continue to screen at film festivals globally.
Set amidst local tensions when there is ‘infiltration’ and Indian army operations to locate them, our two lovestruck young men find themselves battling mindsets of suspicion far beyond the personal. He said there were no issues during film and everyone knew the subject matter of the film and were very accepting.
“This is probably the first ever queer narrative film coming from Kashmir,” Onir told acv. “In a conservative Muslim society, you are invisible and similarly another is invisible because of his profession (Karun as a security guard).
“So, when you are othered in life, you find spaces where you cannot feel othered and because of their otherness, they find oneness.”
“It’s a very pertinent film today in a world where conflict is happening everywhere.”
While homosexuality is no longer against the law in India, Onir thinks there is a lot of work to do with young people still.
“We are still far off from being an inclusive society, because as long as sexuality is not spoken about in school, there is so much bullying. Unless you teach children to be accepting, they don’t grow up to be accepting adults.”
The festival (March 19-30), showcases the best in cinema from LGBTQIA+ offerings and acv covered two British shorts that were screed at the festival. Yassa Khan’s ‘Pink’ and Gitika Buttoo’s ‘Before I do’. The trans-femme short, ‘iykyk (if you know you know)’ by Bonita Rajpurohit screened for the final time on Saturday (March 29) in the shorts strand, For The Girls, in similarly themed shorts selection from around the world.
Oldest UK South Asian film dates and films
FOCUSING on themes of Longing and Belonging is the 27th edition of the UK Asian Film Festival as presented by Tongues on Fire.
The festival will run from Thursday, May 1 – Sunday, May 11.
The Opening Gala film will be ‘My Melbourne’ which is an anthology of short films by directors Onir (yes as above); Rima Das, Imtiaz Ali, and Kabir Khan.
Described as “bold and moving” and “a celebration of diversity” tickets for the screening at the BFI Southbank, London are available.
The Closing Gala film will be ‘The Glassworker’ by Usman Riaz. We first covered this film at its launch at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
Samir Bhamra, creative director UKAFF said: “This year’s UKAFF gala screenings are deeply personal, visually stunning and utterly unmissable.
“They demand to be seen on the big screen. If you have ever loved, lost, or longed to find where you truly belong—come, witness, and feel these stories unfold in the cinema, where they are meant to be experienced.”
For ticket details, see: http://www.ukaff.com
No India cinema screenings for Cannes British success production
ONE OF THE FILMS we covered in Cannes, ‘Santosh’ will not be screened in cinemas in India.
British director Sandhya Suri said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in India requested several changes and that this couldn’t be accommodated without compromising the whole film.
“It was just too difficult to make those cuts and have a film that still made sense, let alone stayed true to its vision,” she told The Guardian.
The film is a police procedural that looks at what happens in the aftermath of a rape and murder of a local village girl with the Santosh (Shahana Goswami) a newly recruited police officer at the centre of the inquiry and working closely alongside her female boss, Sharma (Sunita Rajwar).
The CBFC reportedly objected to the portrayal of the Indian police and violence in the film.
Both Goswami and Suri discussed these issues with acv.
Goswami – https://youtu.be/JcWS9W3kpyY
Suri – https://youtu.be/zZi0VitZc3o
Our Cannes and 10 years of making videos
WE ARE going to be marking 10 years of making videos at the Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24).
Exactly and in what form we can’t say right now as we are still planning and talking to potential sponsors and seeing what is possible.
So watch this space – and the observant among you will have noticed the tab on the home page – on the right at the top (only visible on larger devices, such as tablets, and pcs).
Sign up if you want to be connected and get closer to our coverage – especially so if you are going to be at the festival itself.
Here’s the tab – and click to sign up!
Finally, all our Berinale reviews and Rima Das ‘Village Rockstars 2’
WE HAVE now published all our reviews from our coverage of Berlinale 75 (February 13-23).
There’s a full page review of Rima Das’ award-winning, ‘Village Rockstars 2’ and now reviews of the non South Asian films we saw…these are Honey Bunch; Sorda; Yunan; The Settlement; The Incredible Snow Woman; and The Safe House.
See below, other festival coverage – some in real time here
