2015 Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles Reveals Full Lineup

First up is the opening night film, Haraamkhor, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Nawaz is one of India's brightest lights in front of the screen, and anytime his name is on top of the credits, it's a welcome sign. Here's what Jasmine Jaisinghani, IFFLA's director, has to say:

Shlok Sharma’s riveting feature debut, HARAAMKHOR, is produced by India’s most prominent producers, Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur, Ugly, Bombay Velvet) and Guneet Monga (The Lunchbox, Gangs of Wasseypur). Monga was honored at IFFLA in 2013 with the Industry Leadership Award. Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Gangs of Wasseypur, The Lunchbox, Miss Lovely) in a masterful performance as a teacher having an illicit affair with one of his students, HARAAMKHOR, explores innocent young love that is put on a collision course with the messy reality of budding adulthood. “We’re thrilled to kick off our 13th edition with the world premiere of HARAAMKHOR. Shlok's film resonates to something we all can understand- the beautiful complications of youth. It invigorates us to have a filmmaker return to IFFLA, and especially so when their first feature is as powerful as this,” said IFFLA’s Artistic Director, Jasmine Jaisinghani.

Amit Gupta's debut feature, One Crazy Thing, landed the centerpiece slot. This story of an Indian student who's sex tape has gone viral is one of the more interesting films on the slate as it explores what happens when cultures collide. Here is the synopsis of the film from the British FIlm Council:

Jay Veer, an ex-soap star who is now most infamous for appearing on a viral sex tape with his ex-girlfriend Chloe. She has now become the new Hollywood Kim Kardashian and Jay is left with the reputation of being the Asian Persuasion. All the girls now want him for his bedroom skills, and he just wants to find someone who will love him for who he is and not what he has done. When his keys accidentally falls down a drain, Jay meets Hannah, an American who doesn’t like celebrities or the internet and of course knows nothing of Jay’s fame. They quickly fall in love but there are elements constantly making Jay aware of his past. He tries to shield her away from the past but as their love grows Jay becomes more and more scared of telling Hannah the truth in fear of losing her. Eventually the truth comes out and Jay has to find a way of winning back her heart and respect.

The closing spot has been landed by Nagesh Kukunoor's Berlinale Crystal Bear winning children's story, Dhanak. In addition to Kukunoor's winning history as a director (his film Lakshmi traveled the festival circuit quite successfuly last year), Dhanak was produced by one of Indian cinema's most adventurous money men, Manish Mundra. Mundra has also funded X - The Past is Present, which I loved, as well as Rajat Kapoor's award winning Aankon Dekhi, Sundance darling Umrika, and many more to come. Here's what IFFLA has to say about Dhanak:

Fresh from his award-winning premiere at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival, Nagesh Kukunoor arrives at IFFLA with DHANAK. The gorgeous tale of a brother and sister who embark on a journey across Rajasthan in an attempt to meet the great Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, DHANAK is filled with color, magic and music in a celebration of childhood and family.

“I have been a longtime fan of Nagesh’s work and look forward to welcoming him back to IFFLA,” said festival Founder/Chair Christina Marouda. “DHANAK is a stunning film - infectious in its joyous spirit and appreciation for the beauty that surrounds us. We can’t wait to share it with the IFFLA audiences, who I know will be just as charmed as we were.”

Outside of those big three, there is plenty to get excited about at IFFLA. The next feature that caught my eye is Danis Tanović's (No Man's Land) Tigers, starring Emraan Hashmi. Hashmi is a great actor who mainly plays in subpar movies, but when he's given great material, as in The Dirty Picture or Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai, he can really deliver the goods. Tigers premiered at the very India-friendly Toronto International Film Festival last fall, and I hope I get a chance to see it in a few weeks here.

Kanu Behl's Titli, a film that I really enjoyed seeing as a part of San Francisco's Third I film festival last fall, is also playing at IFFLA this year. In case you need some nudging to check it out, here's an excerpt from my review:

Kanu Behl's film is less concerned with the higher ups in the story, Titli takes place in the infinite and complicated transactions between the peons of corruption, the men on the street who scrape, rob, and kill to keep the fat cats happy. Titli, the character, seems to be the only one in the story who understands this dynamic and actively seeks to subvert it by taking himself out of the game, though he nearly ends up taking himself out altogether in the process.

The power in Titli comes from Shashank Arora's intrepid, but largely thankless performance as the titular character. While Arora's physical appearance in the film is that of a broken man, his spirit never quite gives up... Yes. Titli is a bummer. It is a dark film with a low opinion of some of those people who populate Delhi's backstreets. However, it is ultimately a film about hope, and it's overwhelming sadness only makes the hope shine brighter. Kanu Behl has a bright future ahead of him

Another one for the kids, Marathi film Elizabeth Ekadashi has won admirers everywhere it's played since premiering last November at the International Film Festival of India in Goa. I've been desperate to see this film after hearing raves from people who have seen it first hand and I can't wait to check it out.

Last on my list, but certainly not the last film in the festival, is Amma & Appa. A Tamil/Bavarian first person documentary about the challenges of cross cultural love. The film follows a pair of sweethearts, the Tamil co-director Jayakrishnan Subramaniam and his fiancee, German co-director Franziska Schoenenberger, as they endeavor to bring together two families, neither of which are particularly keen on the union.

I had the opportunity to screen this film as a part of Third I Film Festival last fall and found it remarkably charming. As a person for whom Indian custom has become commonplace, it was interesting to see how the challenges facing Jayakrishnan (parents wanting to arrange his wedding, living so far away), weren't that different from Franziska's western parents' concerns. We would expect, based upon outdated stereotypes, for the parents to be dubious of the couple's future, but the way it plays out is far more intricate that one might expect. As different as real life and the movies, one might say. Definitely one to look out for!

To round things out, I'll leave you with the remainder of the press release, noting the other films on the schedule, which include the above pictured Anil Kapoor starrer, Taal:

Highlights include: the centerpiece and world premiere screening of ONE CRAZY THING, directed by IFFLA alum Amit Gupta (JADOO) and featuring BAFTA ‘Breakthrough Brit’ winner Ray Panthaki and Daisy Bevan (THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY) in a comedic story about a man who meets the girl of his dreams, but struggles to find a way to tell her how he became an internet sensation and the Los Angeles premiere of Academy Award-winner Danis Tanović's latest feature film TIGERS, starring Bollywood heartthrob Emraan Hashmi in a political thriller based on the true story of a salesman who took on a multinational pharmaceutical corporation guilty of marketing a baby formula that caused hundreds of infant deaths.

Additional highlights include: JAI HO, a documentary feature on one of the most prolific composers in the world, A.R. Rahman directed by Umesh Aggarwal; Following a world premiere at Cannes in 2014, Kanu Behl’s TITLI is shot on Super 16 and stars gifted newcomer, Shashank Arora, in a coming of age story set against Dehli’s dark side where perpetual cruelty and violence prevail; and MISS INDIA AMERICA, directed by IFFLA alum Ravi Kapoor and starring Tiya Sircar (THE INTERNSHIP) and Hannah Simone (New Girl), is the story of a woman's plan to win the crown after her boyfriend runs off with the former Miss India America.

The Opening and Closing night red-carpet galas were announced last week: Shlok Sharma’s debut feature film HARAAMKHOR, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and produced by Anurag Kashyap (GANGS OF WASSEYPUR) and Guneet Monga (THE LUNCHBOX) will open the festival with its world premiere. Nagesh Kukunoor’s DHANAK (RAINBOW) will have its U.S. premiere as the Closing Night film, fresh from 2015 Berlinale where it won Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for best feature-length film.

The 2015 lineup also includes titles from the diverse regional language cinemas of India. Along with Bengali and Malayalam films, IFFLA will screen two Marathi language features, including the North American Premiere of ELIZABETH EKADASHI. Tamil language titles include the documentary AMMA AND APPA about a filmmaking South Indian/German couple and their parents, and the U.S. premiere of the delightful THE CROW’S EGG, which premiered at the 2014 Toronto InternationalFilm Festival. Produced by famed South Indian actor Dhanush (best known for the popular song “Why This Kolaveri Di” from the film 3), THE CROW’S EGG follows two young boys in a slum who try to get their first bite of pizza after seeing it in an ad.

“Many of the films at this year's IFFLA look at contemporary youth from diverse backgrounds, united in their creative ways of overcoming life’s situations. The palpable energy of youth spirit runs throughout our film lineup, and these stories take you on an adventurous journey,” said Jasmine Jaisinghani, IFFLA’s Artistic Director. “I believe our audiences will engage with these riveting characters and be fully entertained."

A special inclusion for IFFLA 2015 is a Secret Screening for passholders only, offering a first look at a film that has become a sensation in festivals around the world, winning numerous awards. The film is slated to release later this year. Directed by one of the most exciting auteurs in contemporary Indian cinema, and featuring a powerhouse performance by one of India's brightest young stars, this is a film IFFLA passholders won’t want to miss!

The festival’s popular “Bollywood by Night” series returns this year with an exciting screening of Bollywood smash TAAL. Directed by Subhash Ghai and featuring Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Akshaye Khanna. Originally released in 1999 to worldwide acclaim, TAAL features iconic music composed by A.R. Rahman and is considered one of the best soundtracks in Bollywood history.

The shorts competition showcases an eclectic selection of 10 films including narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include: acclaimed director Gitanjali Rao’s TRUELOVESTORY, a stunning animated film that made its premiere at the Critics’ Week section of Cannes; Jayisha Patel’s multiple award-winning documentary A PARADISE (UN PARAISO); and the U.S. premiere of three of India’s National Award winners, Pranjal Dua’s FLY, BIRD (CHIDIYA UDH), Christo Tomy’s VIRGIN (KANYAKA), and Ruchir Arun’s MANDRAKE! MANDRAKE!.

In addition, screening with JAI HO will be Satyajit Ray’s TWO, a spellbinding and deeply affecting short film by India’s master storyteller, which has been beautifully preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

Attending the festival this year to present their films will be a host of celebrated filmmakers, including Nagesh Kukunoor (DHANAK), Kanu Behl (TITLI), Amit Gupta (ONE CRAZY THING), Ravi Kapoor (MISS INDIA AMERICA), Paresh Mokashi (ELIZABETH EKADASHI), Bikas Mishra (FOUR COLORS), Shlok Sharma and award-winning producer Guneet Monga (HARAAMKHOR).

IFFLA will also host a number of the films’ stars, including: Ray Panthaki and Daisy Bevan from ONE CRAZY THING; critically-acclaimed Nawazuddin Siddiqui for HARAAMKHOR; and MISS INDIA AMERICA’s Hannah Simone (New Girl), Tiya Sircar (THE INTERNSHIP), and Meera Simhan (Anger Management) who is also the film’s co-writer.