The next two Indian section was also well represented with some very good movies. Some notable mentions were Stanley Ka Dabba, Amole Gupta’s poignant coming of age story of a young orphaned Stanley, Suman Ghosh’s Bengali film Nobel Chor starring Mithun Chakraborty, a modern rendition of a gullible poor farmer stuck among the greedy, exploitative bunch in the city and Urumi, Santosh Sivan’s period drama in Malayalam set among Kerala’s warrior clans of the 16th century. Then, of course, there was Umesh Kulkarni’s Marathi film, Deool. But, perhaps the most notable among them was Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, Son of Adam), the Malayalam film about an old Muslim couple in a village in Kerala and their travails to go on Hajj against insurmountable odds.days were again a battery of great films, some sadly running parallel. While George Clooney’s The Ides of March that looks at the political underbelly and Pina, Wim Wenders’ 3-D homage to the famous choreographer were on the list of must-watch for most festival attendees, not too far was Sleeping Beauty, the Australian film that is actually a warped look at the old classic.
While we gush about the fantastic fictions in the festival, one can’t neglect the documentaries, some of which were outstanding to say the least. Take for example, Errol Morris’ Tabloid, which takes a spellbinding look at how a beauty queen with brains gets caught in a vortex of kidnapping, porn and jail. Then, of course, there was Martin Scorcese’s George Harrison: Living in the Material World, which follows the life of the former Beatles member from Liverpool to his Indian associations and influences. Another impactful film was Aung San Suu Kyi – Lady of No Fear, a look at the famous human right activist’s tough life. How can anyone not mention BBC documentary, One Life, directed by Mike Gunten and Martha Holmes, which had already created waves for its stunning visuals. There were also some interesting Indian documentaries, some of whom took up socially relevant subjects like Cotton for the Shroud by Nandan Saxena and Kavita Bahl that looks at the passive genocide over the years in the cotton fields of Vidharba. Also chipping in was P N Rajendran’s Miyar House, which takes a nostalgic look at the history of the filmmaker’s 200 year old house.
The wrap-up days too were packed with great movies. Yellow Sun by the Korean director Na-Hong jin that looks at a cab driver’s travails when his wife disappears and he himself gets embroiled in a murder with both the cops and the mob after him. Iciar Bollain’s Even The Rain (Spain) is a wonderful narrative that draws parallel between the film that’s been shot about Christopher Columbus’ entry into South America and the turmoil in present-day Bolivia where they shoot the film. Worth special mentioning is the Danish film Melancholia by director Lars Von Trier that takes an apocalyptic look at the lives of two sisters during the last three days of Earth’s existence. The last two screenings before the final film were the Turkish film Once Upon A Time In Anatolia by director Nuri Ceylan, a slow layered narrative that on top is a police investigation, but beneath reveals human frailties and Faust (Russian) by Alexander Sokurov, is about a professor who enters a pact with the devil.
The festival ended with Charles Martin Smith’s Dolphin Tale, a touching tale of a dolphin that loses its tail and how a pioneering doctor restored the dolphin’s ability to swim.
Though there were few hiccups of cancelled screenings and technical snags, but despite these small hurdles, it was definitely an experience worth encountering for a movie buff. And, the movie buffs also lapped it up with great aplomb. One could see the upward surge in audience and the lines got more serpentine with passing days, with most viewers wanting to catch as many movies as they could. It must be said in totality that the event was organized very well and MAMI deserves all the credit for bringing some amazing movies to Mumbai, like they had been doing in the past many years. The stark improvement in the quality of films and some big contemporary films attending only shows the growing clout of Mumbai Film Festival. Hoping the next edition sees equally good or better movies from around the world. As a movie buff, yours truly is wondering if the eight days could be extended to more days… Okay, it’s wishful thinking that’s perhaps removed from practicality. But, anything to catch more wonderful movies.
