USA: Mahindra Indo- American Arts Council Film Festival kicks off with a feast of diverse South Asian films

Record ID: 722301

  • Title: USA: Mahindra Indo- American Arts Council Film Festival kicks off with a feast of diverse South Asian films
  • Date: 13th November 2009
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA (NOVEMBER 10, 2009) (REUTERS) SOUNDBITE (English) MIAAC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AROON SHIVDASANI SAYING: "Last year we had Slumdog Millionaire as our center piece. We had Salman Rushdie and Deepa Mehta announce that they are going to do Midnights Children at our Festival and then the New York Times gave us this fabulous write-up comparing us to Sundance so those were real highlights for us. But this year we have so many, I think each year the caliber of films, the variety and the film makers who bring us the real films, is that much better."
  • Embargoed: 28th November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA84CGZILDJB26LBOULXYWJARUS
  • Story Text: New York's Mahindra Indo- American Arts Council Film Festival kicks off November 11, with a feast of diverse, South Asian films that bridges the South Asian diaspora with the 2.5 million strong Indian American community With over 50 carefully selected films, that include the lavish song and dance sequences of Bollywood, combined with more art house fare, festival goers won't be disappointed.
    Aroon Shivdasani is the executive director of the festival.
    Says Shivdasani, "Last year we had Slumdog Millionaire as our center piece. We had Salman Rushdie and Deepa Mehta announce that they are going to do Midnights Children at our Festival and then the New York Times gave us this fabulous write-up comparing us to Sundance so those were real highlights for us. But this year we have so many, I think each year the caliber of films, the variety and the film makers who bring us the real films, is that much better."
    Veteran actress Sarita Choudhury, who has supported the festival since its inception, stars in the movie "For Real."
    Directed by Sona Jain, "For Real" shows a six-year-old child fighting desperately to keep her parents together.
    Choudhury plays the mother, in a tale of the burgeoning middle class India life.
    Says Choudhury, "Whenever I do a film in India, its either like of Kamasutra level with fifty million chilies on the floor and five wigs and beautiful drama, which, oh my God, I love so much, or a very simple story about one rickshaw walla. This story was a very bourgeouis story in a way, about depression, which the poor are not allowed to have."
    MIAAC 2009's other films include an eclectic mix of contemporary Indian cinema and provide a platform for South Asian writers, directors and actors.
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