It was quite a celebrity fest at the opening night reception for ‘The New India’: Kiran Bedi, the top cop of India, as well as Mira Nair, Abhay Deol, Nandita Das and Suketu Mehta could be spotted amongst a crowd of filmmakers, socialites and filmgoers. To get a festival of 16 Indian films for 2 whole weeks at the iconic Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) is quite a big deal, and film buffs had come out in full force.
Looking at the enthusiastic throngs outside MOMA, Mira Nair said it was a sea change from the extreme loneliness of the 80’s when audiences didn’t have that familiarity with Indian cinema, and movie-goers would often ask her, ‘I see running water in your films. Do you really have running water in India?’
She spoke about the wonderful spectrum of films being shown in ‘The New India’: “These are amazing, inventive films and it makes MOMA a home for the most vibrant and intelligent cinema coming out of India, and this is a rare privilege.”
The festival, curated by Josh Siegel, was indeed a rich mix, encompassing the sleeper hit ‘A Wednesday’ starring Naseeruddin Shah to ‘Firaaq’, Nandita Das’s directorial debut to the hilarious ‘Luck by Chance’ and the Bollywood extravaganza, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’. The documentaries addressed India’s real problems from AIDS to child exploitation to communal riots.
Says Uma da Cuna, guest curator of the festival: “It shows what’s happening in Indian cinema today, the ways the film scene is changing and developing. One of the trends is that many women directors are breaking new ground in India.”
Arts patron Kent Charugundla and his wife Marguerite, who also founded the Tamarind Arts Council, a nonprofit gallery for Indian contemporary art, are the catalysts behind ‘The New India’. They funded the entire festival, and enjoy exposing new audiences to Indian art and culture. He says, “I think it’s very important for us to showcase these stories which are happening in India in the US.”
Amazingly, he recalls that, as a child, he was not allowed to watch feature films, and only got to see government newsreels. Now he seems to be making up for lost time by not only seeing the best of Indian cinema but also showing it to the world!
