Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
April 11-14, 2019 - Regal L.A. Live 14
ANDHADHUN - A Tribute to Tabu - 139 min
Tabassum Fatima Hashmi, known as Tabu, is regarded as one of the most talented Indian actors of her generation, having been honored with two National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards and notably, the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2011. Tabu’s strong individuality and unwillingness to compromise set apart her persona—and the characters she portrays—making her beloved by Indian audiences around the world.
In Andhadhun, Tabu again takes on a comedic role, albeit still playing the kind of villainess that her audiences adore. Tabu is Simi, a desperate actress who is caught disposing off her husband’s body in front of pianist Akash (Ayushmann Khurrana). Fortunately it’s not a problem – he’s blind. Or is he? Simi and Akash find themselves bound together (literally) in this wicked story of ambition, romance and organ harvesting. Co-starring the delightful Radhika Apte as Akash’s suspicious, sassy girlfriend.
Friday, April 12 at 7:00 pm
THE SWEET REQUIEM - 92 min
Escaping nearly 15 years ago from Tibet, Dolkar (Tenzin Dolker) is a young woman living in exile in Delhi. Her seemingly contented life is completely unmoored when she meets Gompo (Tenzin Dechen), a new arrival to their Tibetan community, who she recognizes as the man who guided her group through the unforgiving and treacherous path to India. As Gompol deals with his own story of heartache and peril, long-repressed memories return to Dolkar, and she resolves to confront him for his betrayal.
Friday, April 12 at 7:15 pm - SHORTS PROGRAM 1
Friday, April 12 at 9:15 pm
CAT STICKS - 94 min
One rain-soaked night in Kolkata, in the city’s hidden corners and forgotten pathways, the aimless lives of several young people crystallize into a sympathetic portrait of addiction in Ronny Sen’s unforgettable feature debut. Together with cinematographer Shreya Dev Dube, who lenses each breathtaking, black-and-white shot with an artist’s eye, Sen evokes another world hiding in plain sight. The city’s nearly empty streets create a stage for the petty crime, meandering conversations, and surreal encounters that accompany each of his characters’ search for the unsustainable high of “brown sugar”. The result is visual poetry that gives these lost souls a necessary spotlight without beautifying their struggle.
Saturday, April 13 at 12:00 pm
TAKING THE HORSE TO EAT JALEBIS - 122 min
For centuries the Shahjanabad area of Old Delhi has been home to migrant workers and the poor. Eschewing stereotypical images and storytelling approaches, TAKING THE HORSE TO EAT JALEBIS takes us into the reality of Old Delhi, centering the stories of its citizens such as a pickpocket, street vendor, labor activist and tour guide. When Pattru, an outcast thief, decides to lead his own tours, the police and tourists reject his stories of the dark truths of the city. Still, he continues, taking us further in to the dream life and subconscious of the community.
Saturday, April 13 at 12:30 pm - SHORTS PROGRAM 2
Saturday, April 13 at 3:15 pm
CHIPPA - 90 min
Sunny Pawar, the star of 2016’s Oscar-nominated LION, proves his movie star mettle as the delightful title character in Safdar Rahman’s directorial debut. Chippa is a spirited young boy living with his street vendor auntie, a relationship that creates more arguments than tenderness. On the eve of Chippa’s tenth birthday, he’s given a letter written to him by his long-absent father. The letter is written in Urdu, which neither Chippa nor any of the adults in his life can read. Spurred on by yet another shouting match with his auntie, he sets off for one eventful night through the streets of Kolkata in search of answers.
Saturday, April 13 at 5:15 pm
WIDOW OF SILENCE - 86 min
In the first shot of WIDOW OF SILENCE a beautifully-lit elderly woman is gently tied to a chair by someone offscreen. Not only does this image of paralysis act as a metaphor for the status of women in Kashmir, it foreshadows the entanglement that faces the heroine, Aasia — a situation she attempts to liberate herself from at great cost.
Saturday, April 13 at 7:15 pm
NAMDEV BHAU IN SEARCH OF SILENCE - 82 min
Namdev Bhau, a 65-year-old chauffeur in Mumbai, yearns to escape the endless noise of his city life – the complaints of his clients, the cacophony on the street, the bickering at home. When he hears about a place called Silent Valley — reported to be one of the quietest places on Earth — he decides to leave everything and journey there to attain blissful peace and quiet. However, as he sets out on the road, each of his attempts for solitude are comically foiled. The last straw arrives in the form of a precocious 12-year-old boy, who selects Namdev Bhau as the perfect companion for his own journey.
Saturday, April 13 at 9:15 pm
PHOTOGRAPH - 110 min
Rafi’s grandmother in the village will not stop asking him to get married. One day while making his living as a photographer of tourists at the iconic Gateway of India in Mumbai, Rafi takes a picture of Miloni, a local young accountant student who has stolen a moment alone from her family. When she leaves before he can give her the photograph, he decides to make use of it by sending it to his grandmother as a picture of his future bride. The ruse works too well when grandma announces she’s coming to town to meet her.
Sunday, April 14 at 12:00 pm
REASON - 236 min
Iconoclastic documentarian and IFFLA alum Anand Patwardhan has long been seen as the conscience of the nation and in his latest film he takes on no less of a subject as the past, present and future of Indian democracy and secularism. Divided into eight chapters and told over four hours, Patwardhan surveys the history of and contemporary struggle against casteism and Hindutva, the ideology of Hindu nationalism.
Sunday, April 14 at 12:30 pm
JONAKI - 95 min
80-year-old Jonaki, the heroine of visionary director Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s astonishing second feature, has come to the end of a life filled with love interrupted, dreams deferred and disappointments regretfully accepted. Portrayed by legendary Bengali actress Lolita Chatterjee, Jonaki recounts the bittersweet moments of her life, which are rendered as surreal, breathtaking dreamscapes that cast the octogenarian actress as Jonaki’s younger self. We experience her first true love with a dashing Christian man, and the subsequent clash with her traditionalist family over her wishes for marriage.
Sunday, April 14 at 3:00 pm
LOVE GOES THROUGH YOUR MIND - 87 min
Nina Sharma is a promising high school student, a budding artist, and the daughter of two affluent Indian American parents in Los Angeles. From the outside, her family life looks perfect, but complications arise when her brother Bharat returns home from college unexpectedly. After exhibiting erratic behavior, a doctor’s visit reveals that Bharat is struggling with bipolar disorder. Nina jumps at the chance to help her brother through his illness, but her parents refuse to face the reality of Bharat’s diagnosis.
Sunday, April 14 at 7:00 pm - Closing Night Gala
THE ODDS - 96 min
On the day of a major exam that could help determine her future, eccentric Vivek decides to take a slightly strange stand against the system. When things don’t go as she planned, well-heeled and cute Ashwin gets caught up in her antics and the two play truant from school. As the young would-be couple wanders the streets of Mumbai and gets to know each other, the past, present and future of their relationship play out in hilarious and magical ways.
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