NY Indian Film Fest 2017 Preview: A Strong Lineup Led By Five Best Picture Nominees

Shubashish Bhutiani's Hotel Salvation was one of my favorite Indian films of 2016. I saw it in conjunction with its Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival and was blown away by its quiet charm and the remarkable maturity of this story from first time feature director, the 24-year-old Bhutiani. Hotel Salvation appears toward the end of this year's festival, here's what I had to say about it in my review from last August:

Writer and director Shubhashish Bhutiani's Hotel Salvation is depiction of an obedient son's attempt to guide his father through his last days is a not the depressing philosophical drudgery that one might expect. Instead the film is filled with laughter, joy, revelations, and a kind of spirit of redemption that the title suggests.

The script is minimal, efficient, and wonderfully adroit in its ability to establish characters and relationships through suggestion, rather than blatant demonstration. The actors in turn are allowed to establish themselves through their mannerisms, and Lalit Behl (Daya) and [Adil] Hussain are particularly exceptional in that regard.

Hotel Salvation definitely takes on some weighty topics in its search for enlightenment, but thankfully Bhutiani takes on most of the heavy lifting for the audience. We think about life and death, sin and redemption, filial versus financial duty, and the terrible, wonderful bonds of family; and we do so in a wonderfully charming way.

In the end, Hotel Salvation is a celebration of all the things we miss when we stop looking around at just how amazing life can be, and sometimes a reminder is all it takes to remember to smile.

Hotel Salvation plays next Saturday, May 6^th at 6PM at Theater 2 Village East in NY.

 Also up for Best Picture at this year's NYIFF is the Marathi drama, Kasaav (Turtle). Kasaav was the overall winner of the National Award for Best Film this year, and while I'm not so sure about that superlative, it's definitely a great one and a signal that Marathi cinema is an industry to look out for. The filmmaking team of Sumitra Bhave & Sunil Sukthankar have worked together for over thirty years now, and they are no strangers to the prestigious award. Their latest film deals with isolation and the feeling of failure and how strangers can work together to find and create meaning in their lives.

Manav is a suicidal twenty-something who stumbles into the life of recent divorcee and researcher Janaki. Sensing that he's in more trouble than he is willing to let on, Janaki takes him in and attempts to rehabilitate him by providing him with an open and non-judgmental environment in which he can hopefully find a reason to go on living.

In the meantime Janaki staunches her own emotional turmoil over her recent breakup by throwing herself into her research on the reproductive habits of local sea turtle populations. This added distraction is just what she needs to help put her life back into focus, while still managing to help another human being bounce back.

Manav begins to form bonds in the unlikeliest of places, taking on a young street urchin as a friend and by extension finding his own place in the world. In the end, the film is a wonderful reminder that no matter how dark life can get, there is always someone or something there to pull you back into the light, you just may not know them yet.

Kaasav plays Saturday, May 6 at 3.00 pm. Theater 2, Village East

Konkona Sen Sharma is from one of India's most respected film families. Her mother, Aparna Sen, is one of India's most prolific female directors, and Konkona, after years as an actress, takes the plunge as a director with her debut feature A Death in the Gunj.

A Death in the Gunj premiered at last year's Toronto International Film Festival where it was quite well received. The film stars indie stalwarts Ranvir Shorey (Titli), Kalki Koechkin (Margarita With a Straw), Tillotama Shome (Qissa), and the legendary late Om Puri (East is East).

A young man, Shutu (Vikrant Massey) joins his family at their country compound after a disastrous semester at university. While the rest of his family enjoys their time away from the big city, Shutu is trying to find a way to right himself but can't help feeling like he is drowning. The overbearing presence of family and unwelcome friends like Vikram (Shorey) only make it tougher for Shutu to find his center.

When one the youngest member of the party goes missing one night, Shutu and family are forced to confront their demons in order to come together and find her. Rather than tightening the bond among the boarders, the crisis drives a wedge further between them as Shutu's secrets start to come to the fore and he can't take the heat.

Sen Sharma's film is a very formal exercise in filmmaking, and while I liked it, I can't help feeling that it may have worked better as a stage play. She definitely shows promise, but I do hope that in the future she loosens up a little. However, there is enough here to enjoy, and when in doubt, the effortless and compelling performance of Om Puri in one of his final roles is more than enough to keep the audience engaged.

A Death in the Gunj plays on Tuesday, May 2 at 6.00 pm. Theater 2, Village East, NYC.

Brother directing duo Satish and Santosh Babusenan are an up and coming team making films in the Malayalam language of Kerala. Their latest feature, Ottayal Paatha (The Narrow Path) won the Silver award at last year's JioMAMI Film Festival in Mumbai.

This team is one of a number of filmmakers making quality independent films in Kerala, helping to make it the new hot spot for Indian talent. Aside from the Babusenans, viewers can look forward to films from directors like Sanal Kumar Sasidharan (Sexy Durga), Jiju Anthony (Eli Eli Lema Sabachthani) alongside bigger films from directors like Rajeev Ravi (Kammatipaadam), Geetu Mohandas (Liar's Dice), and Lijo Jose Pellissery (Double Barrel) in the coming years.

The Narrow Path is the story of Akhil and his ailing father. Since he has become incapacitated, Akhil's father has become more of a nuisance to his son than a blessing. Akhil has decided to elope with his girlfriend to the big city and leave his father behind, but he wants to be sure that the old man is taken care of. He enlists the services of a caretaker and a maid to make sure that his father gets everything he needs, including his insulin, but there's something holding him back. After making all of these plans to run away, on the day he is to leave, Akhil faces new challenges, both emotional and physical, that change his outlook.

The Narrow Path is a solid film that looks at the burden we place on one another as family. Akhil feels as though his father is a burden and that he is holding him back from becoming all that he can be. On the other end, his father talks a big game about what a disappointment his son is, but slowly comes to realize that everything he is disappointed about is in part due to his son's filial responsibilities to him.

Anyone who ever had a challenging relationship with a parent who never quite understood them will find something to relate to in this film. It's a bit slow in places, but it has an amazing climax that really sealed the deal for me. Nothing flashy, but extremely effective.

The Narrow Path plays Monday, May 1 at 6.30 pm. Theater 4, Village East, NYC.

One more National Award winning film is director Manas Mukul Pal's Colours of Innocence (Sahaj Paather Gappo), which won the award for best child actors for the dual leads. Colours of Innocence carries the torch for the age old tradition of Bengali language family drama in a story that mixes tragedy and struggle with the innocence of youth. Thematically, think Pather Panchali, though that's probably a few steps too far.

Young brothers Gopal and Chhotu live in rural Bengal where they spend their days doing odd jobs to keep themselves busy. When their father is involved in a car accident and incapacitated, it falls to their mother to find work to keep the family fed, but the stress is just too much for her to bear and there's not much work to be found. In an attempt to keep their family afloat and themselves sane, the boys hunt for work while their mother falls apart.

Their hard work pays off when they get invited to a Janmasthami feast after giving away palmyra fruits to the wealthiest family in town, but at the cost of losing the money their family so desperately needs to make ends meet. Can they sustain and save face at the same time?

Colours of Innocence is clearly a naive attempt at the Bengali family drama, but the director does show some promise. To be honest, this is my least favorite of the best picture nominees this year, but I have to say that the children's performances were admirable and I look forward to their future work and have high hopes for director Manas Mukul Pal as well.

See for your self when Colours of Innocence plays on Friday, May 5 at 6.15 pm. Theater 3, Village East, NYC

None of these films made it to the best picture race at NYIFF, but they are playing and I love them so I'm going to take advantage of my position and pimp them the best I can.

First up in the bonus recommendations is Rajeev Ravi's outstanding gangster epic, Kammatipaadam. I love this film so much that I listed it in my top 12 of 2016 and programmed it at Fantastic Fest. It's an amazing Malayalam language take on Once Upon a Time in America from one of India's finest up and coming director/cinematographers. Here's what I said about the film in my review:

More than once when watching Kammatipaadam I was reminded of the great mafia films of Martin Scorsese. From his depiction of the down in the dirt small time hoods in Mean Streets, all the way through to the scheming big shots of Goodfellas and Casino, what binds the work of Scorsese is an obsessive attention to character, and that attention is what truly sets Kammatipaadam apart. Rajeev Ravi gives his audience complete, well-rounded characters they can latch onto. In spite of their outward brutality and violence, Ravi gives each of these men lives, loves, and challenges of their own without detracting from the central story.

At a hair shy of three hours, it might seem that Kammatipaadam could be an endurance trial for all but the most dedicated of film fans. However, the film never feels overlong or indulgent, and I'd have happily spent another three hours with these characters in this world. In fact, there is word that a four hour version of the film exists, and that knowledge has me chomping at the bit to dig further into the world of Krishnan and company. For my money, Kammatipaadam is the best crime film out of India so far this year and I'm looking forward to whatever Rajeev Ravi and Dulquer Salman cook up next.

Next up in my bonus recommendations is Shanker Raman's gritty noir, Gurgaon. I saw this film as part of the European Film Market and before that late last year. I would expect it to open in Indian cinemas before the year is out, but why wait? Here's a piece from my review:

Gurgaon fits well with the new breed of Indian thrillers using India's rapid economic expansion as fuel for gritty stories about the bodies on which great cities grow. Last year's Kammatipaadam was another similar story that focused on the lower caste henchmen and their struggle to stay alive and afloat as their homes were plowed under in the name of progress. With Gurgaon we start at the top with real estate tycoon Kehri Singh and his bratty, entitled son and their misadventures in maintaining their prosperity.

Gurgaon is one of a thousand cities in India that is primed for massive economic expansion, and even though it is blood that makes the grass grow under these success stories, we only see the ribbon cutting on TV. Shanker Raman's film is an interesting look at the backdoor dealing and violence that keeps the money flowing among the upper classes. Perhaps not quite as ambitious as Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai which tackles similar growing pains, Gurgaon is nevertheless a very effective thriller that should find an audience outside of India for those adventurous enough to give it a shot.

Last but not least among the films I've seen is Sudhish Kamath's Side A Side B. This review is hot off the presses, but I have seen a couple of versions of this technical marvel and have been more impressed every time. Here's a piece from my point of view:

It takes huge balls to make a film like Side A Side B. Frankly, I'm surprised that writer/director Sudhish Kamath can sit comfortably with what he must be packing between his legs in order to have conceived this little adventure of his. An eighty minute romantic musical, shot over the course of a forty-four train ride from Guwahati in India's northeast to Mumbai in the west, with 8 songs, all shot live with live sound on the train and only two performers and six crew, at most, to capture the whole thing, on two mobile phones.

...[A]ll the gusto and enthusiasm in the world doesn't necessarily make for a solid film, but in this case, Kamath comes out on top. Side A Side B is a charming story told by a solid script, confident but relaxed performers, and a set of balls most likely bigger than his brains for even attempting it. But I'm glad he did, Side A Side B is a winner, a film that takes place in a world and relationship that feels lived in, and that's no easy task even with a hundred days to shoot. I am impressed.

Those are the three that I've seen and really enjoyed. I'm also really excited to check out Pawan Kumar's (U-Turn, Lucia) new Kannada project as producer in Egghead (Ondu Motteya Kathe) and indie film commando Sandeep Mohan's Shreelancer and I'm jealous of the New Yorkers who'll get a chance before me. NYIFF looks great this year, don't miss your chance to see some amazing films.