Leicester’s Phoenix cinema is showing a selection of contemporary Indian films this weekend, which hope to “break the Bollywood mould” it says is synonymous with Indian cinema.
The Phoenix Cinema will be showing a selection of films throughout April, as part of a brand new film festival, called the ‘Contemporary Indian Film Focus’.
The festival, which includes films like ‘Miss Lovely’, ‘Masaan’ and ‘Bulbul Can Sing’, have been curated by Asif Vehvaria from Phoenix’s cinema programme team, in partnership with the Independent Cinema Office.
He hopes that the films will help to shed a light on other areas of India’s ‘microfilm’ industry, which lie outside of Bollywood.
“Looking beyond Bollywood, we’re showcasing films that reflect the issues around caste, explore personal identity, and break the Bollywood mould that is synonymous with Indian cinema”, he told Pukaar News.
“In the typical Bollywood films you get a lot of singing and dancing – it’s all quite stereotypical, but the films that we’ve picked look at the societal hardships that people face,” he added.
“They’re a lot more real and gritty. For example ‘Miss Lovely’ is a horror-drama, which looks at the ‘C’ grade ‘video nasties’, which were around in the 80’s.
“Also we’re trying to shed a light on outstanding independent films from South asian filmakers – films from outside of Bollywood like ‘Bulbul Can Sing’, which is made by Rima Das – a self-taught director who I really admire. There is a very rich film industry outside of Bollywood, which deserves to be seen, and we’re trying to shed a light on it through the festival”.
Phoenix’s ‘Contemporary Indian Film Focus’ starts on Friday, April 8 with a showing of ‘Masaan’ and ends on Tuesday, April 12 with ‘Hidden Waters’. This finale will feature a question and answer session with the film’s director Kiranmayi Indraganti.
To find out more, visit: https://phoenix.org.uk or call the Box Office on: 0116 242 2800.
