27 December,2020 11:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Meenakshi Shedde
Illustration/Uday Mohite
1. THE DISCIPLE by Chaitanya Tamhane, Marathi: Was in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival, where it won Best Screenplay and the FIPRESCI Film Critics' Award. Executive Producer Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuaron. About a devoted Hindustani classical music vocalist who finds his commitment to his art challenged in today's times.
2. NASIR by Arun Karthick, Tamil: Was in the Rotterdam Film Festival's Tiger Competition, where it won the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film. About a gentle, hardworking Muslim, textile salesman and poet in Coimbatore, who is stabbed to death by Hindu fundamentalists.
3. FUNNY BOY by Deepa Mehta, in English, Tamil, Sinhala: Mehta's finest film, a coming-of age-story, exploring a teenage Sinhalese-Tamil gay romance, at the onset of the devastating 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka. Captivating, moving and funny. Disqualified from being Canada's entry for the Oscar for Best International Film because of 'insufficient' foreign language content, it has been submitted for the best picture and best screenplay. Technically, a Canadian film, it is included here because of its Indian-origin director, making a film set in Sri Lanka, with a South Asian cast, based on Shyam Selvadurai's book. Woman director.
4. PAAVA KADHAIGAL (Sinful Tales), Tamil: Superb anthology film exploring the idea of honour, on Netflix. With directors Sudha Kongara (woman director, by far the best here), Vignesh Shivan, Vetri Maaran and Gautham Vasudev Menon. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Ashi Dua Sara (woman producer). Kongara tells a masterful tale of a gay-transwoman that breaks your heart, with an understated religious layer, and haunting songs; Kalidas Jayaram is a revelation; and woman director. Vignesh Shivan is feminist and mischievous while telling a story about honour killings (yes, Kalki Koechlin speaks Tamil); Vetri Maaran, ever-reliable, tells a hard-hitting real-life story, while Gautham Menon's story has a climax that leaves your heart in your mouth.
5. AVIJATRIK (The Wanderlust of Apu) by Subhrajit Mitra, Bengali: A black and white sequel to Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy that ended with Apur Sansar of 1959. Based on the concluding part of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's Aparajito. Apu relives his childhood with his son Kajol, 6, visiting Varanasi and Nishchindipur, before going on adventures to Jawa. Arjun Chakrabarty plays a wistful Apu; Anoushka Shankar and Bickram Ghosh have composed the music. At IFFI, Kolkata film festival.
6. ZINDAGI TAMASHA by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, Punjabi, Urdu, Pakistan: This daring film takes on the mullahs for misusing religion to suppress the people: an ageing man is forced to publicly apologise for dancing at a wedding! It also celebrates South Asia's love of song and dance. Winner of the Kim Ji-Seok Award at the Busan Film Festival, it is Pakistan's Oscar entry. It was at the I View World and Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival, Canada.
7. SOORARAI POTTRU (Praise the Brave) by Sudha Kongara, Tamil: Starring Suriya and Aparna Balamurali, based on Simply Fly by low-cost airline Air Deccan founder Capt GR Gopinath's story. Solid, mainstream film. Woman director. On Amazon Prime Video.
8. RUN, KALYANI by Geetha J, Malayalam: Slow burn but absorbing film about how a single young woman, a cook, is hemmed in by life, yet fosters a romance between two of her employers. It was at the New York Indian Film Festival. Woman director.
9. HALAL LOVE STORY by Zakariya Mohammed, Malayalam: When two Muslim film fans, looking for a "family film", decide to make a "halal" film, they realise it's tricky territory. Don't expect a Sudani from Nigeria, but Zakariya gives us enough to reflect on. Grace Antony shines.
10. LATO KOSERO (Owl) by Shirish Gurung, Nepali: Slight idea of a man guided to find happiness by a shaman, but this b/w film is wonderfully inventive and playful, visually and musically. On Amazon Prime Video.
Honourable Special Mentions include Ashmita Guha Neogi's Catdog, a short that was in the Cannes Film Festival's Cinefondation selection, and is in the Indian Panorama, woman director; Rahul Riji Nair's Kalla Nottam (The False Eye, Malayalam), Atanu Ghosh's Binisutoy (Without Strings, Bengali), Iram Parveen Bilal's I'll Meet You There (Urdu, US-Pakistan, woman director), V Vignarajan's Andhaghaaram (Darkness, Tamil, on Netflix), Dhondup Tsering's Ama Khando (Tibetan, Nepal, Dharamshala Film Festival), and Marya Javed's Baadi (bra/body, Pakistan, short, Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals; woman director). Also acknowledging and/or making relatively invisible women filmmakers more widely visible.
Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com
