Yeh hai filmi chakkar

The ongoing Cine lit fest at the India Habitat Centre is a collection of interesting films adapted from successful literature. It is being held in collaboration with various embassies and film bodies. A must attend

You just gathered the courage and watched a film about a con man out to rob a train (yawn). The only thing you could remember from the storyline is that his lady love Sheila is proud of her jawani.

Suddenly, you get reminded that it vaguely resembles Vittorio De Sica's After the Fox, though in a grotesque and spoofy way. Overcome by remorse you decide to jump off the Qutab Minar. Hang on and don't lose heart.u00a0 Try this Cine fest and watch cinematic adaptations of successful novels which will help reinstall your faith in cinema. (And if it doesn't, you might as well jump off the minar).

Summer loveu00a0
On January 10, Some to Run With will be screened. Based on a novel of btrhe same name by David Grossman, the Israeli author and activist, the film tells the story of two teenagers in Jerusalem. Tamar is a reticent girl and Asaf a na ve boy with a boring summer job. An uncontrollable labrador from the pound leads him through the city to find its owner Tamar. As Asaf undertakes his journey through the city with the dog, he discovers that the innocent Tamar has disappeared in the underbelly of Jerusalem's underworld. Does the 17-year-old boy finally meet the dog's owner? Well, watch this wonderful film directed by Oded Davidoff to find out. The 120 minute long film is in Hebrew and is screened with English subtitles.u00a0

Tribute to the Nooran
The other one we recommend is Train to Pakistan. Those of you who have grown up reading the novel by Khuswant Singh but haven't laid their eyes on the film yet, here is your chance. The 1998 film directed by Pamela Brooks casts Nirmal Pandey as Jaggat Singh, Mohan Agashe as Hukum Chand and Smriti Mishra as Nooran. While many of us missed it because the film ran into trouble with the censor board and ended up touring only film festivals, don't miss it this time. The inclusion of this film in the fest perhaps is a perfect chance for fans to pay tribute to Pamela who passed away in a state of coma at her Defence Colony residence last year.

The struggle
Another gem which deserves mention is Muhafiz directed by Ismail Merchant. Based on Anita Desai's In Custody, it is the emotional story of the clash between modernisation and tradition. Put in a powerhouse like Om Puri as Deven, the Hindi professor who loves Urdu poetry, add to it charactors like Safiya Begum, Imtiaz Begum, Murad, Sarla and finally Nur played by seasoned players like Sushma Seth, Shabana Azmi, Tinnu Anand and Neena Gupta and the result is a gold medal for best picture from the President of India and accolades from fans. Deven will keep you busy for a while. Do not miss.

Other films include Satyajit Ray's Ghore Baire adapted from Rabindranath Tagore's novel of the same name and the Hungarian film Relatives directed by Szabo Istavan from Zsigmond Moricz's novel of the same name among others.

At: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road
Timings: 6.30 onwards
Ring: 43663093-94
On till January 22