Page 3′ takes a behind-the-scenes look at A-list celebrity lifestyles through the eyes of a female entertainment journalist. It explores the power-play between the rich and famous and the media. It is also the story of three girls trying to make a decent living in an indecent societyRead More »
From the Berlinale website:
A pioneering political work of contemporary relevance: Communal violence between Hindus and Muslims in 1984 forms the starting point for this film, whose complexity lends it immense political force. The film’s historical perspective is provided by a thorough commentary, which gives the camera’s particular presence the necessary depth and complexity. The mechanisms of political power struggles, the dynamics among those that hold power, and the instrumentalisation of economic relations and urban poverty make for a striking analysis, uniquely anticipating the subsequent development of communalist conflicts and the politics of marginalisation. The immediacy achieved by filming just as violence is unfolding juxtaposed with calm observations of the devastating consequences of living one’s life during a state of emergency, thus reaching a level of respectful lyricism and contemplation that make the film much more than just a worthy reportage.Read More »
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A sewerage worker’s dead body is found inside a manhole in Mumbai. An ageing folk singer is tried in court on charges of abetment of suicide. He is accused of performing an inflammatory song which might have incited the worker to commit the act. As the trial unfolds, the personal lives of the lawyers and the judge involved in the case are observed outside the court.Read More »
Synopsis:
As Pandit Shyam Sunder prayed in Bhagwan Shivji’s temple on the occasion of Janamashtami, his wife gives birth to a daughter, Rupa, and passes away, leaving her child to bear the brunt of being an ill-omen. Years later, Rupa burns her face from a frying pot, thus disfiguring the right side of her face completely, so much so that when she matures, the scar being so hideous, that no one in the village nor surrounding area wants to marry her. Then an Engineer named Rajeev arrives from Bombay, he approaches Shyam Sunder to seek his permission and blessings, so that he can marry Rupa. Read More »
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Young Biniya lives a poor lifestyle in a small village in the mountainous and snowy region of Himachal Pradesh in India along with her widowed mom and wrestler brother. She entertains various tourists, and while doing so with some tourists from Japan, trades in her bear-tooth amulet with a blue umbrella. She and her umbrella become very popular with both tourists and the local villagers. A restaurant-owner, Nandkishore Khatri, takes a fancy to this umbrella and attempts several times to buy if off of her – in vain.Read More »
Synopsis:
Based on the 6th century A.D. Sanskrit play “The Golden Toy Chariot” by the famous Indian playwright Bhasa, “Utsav” faithfully follows Bhasa’s story-line. Vasantasena, a courtesan who dances at the King Palaka’s court hides in Charudatta’s house while running away from the amorous attentions of the king’s brother-in-law. She falls in love with Charudatta, though he is married and penniless. They have an affair. Meanwhile, the rightful heir to the throne – King Palaka’s brother – escapes from prison. While he is being pursued by the king’s troops, Charudatta helps him. Read More »
Ramprasad is a recent college graduate who finds a job with a finicky man, Bhavani Shankar, who believes that a man without a mustache is a man without a character. Bhavani Shankar is also against any of his employees indulging in recreation of any kind. When Ramprasad is caught by his boss at a soccer match, he has to invent a twin brother, the clean-shaven Laxman Prasad, to save his job. When Bhavani’s daughter falls in love with the clean-shaven Laxman Prasad, and insists on marrying him, and Bhavani insists she should marry Ramprasad, things take a whacky turn. A fake mother and a hilarious chase are other enjoyable features involved in this comedy.Read More »
IMDB says:
The films takes an expressionist look at the gulf between the rich and poor in the society. The film centers on a wealthy and capacious landlord, Sarkar (Rafi Peer) who lives in a palatial estate high up on a mountain while the poor toil and starve in the valley below. The villagers of ‘Neecha Nagar’ harbor hate for Sarkar and their hatred is fueled even more by the fact that Sarkar plans to direct all the sewage into the village in order to make way for his housing project. The villagers protest this move with their head, Balraj (Rafiq Anwar) leading a movement against Sarkar’s plan. Sarkar’s daughter Maya (Uma Anand) joins the movement against her father and falls in love with Balraj. With the sewage flowing through the village, epidemic starts to spread and the lives of the villagers comes under threat. Can poor people of ‘Neecha Nagar’ survive the greed and wickedness of the rich? Can Sarkar and his malicious ways be put to an end?Read More »
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This documentary deals with work, poverty, violence, love and sex. A film about human beauty in twelve chapters which tells the tales of people from Bombay, Mexico City, Moscow and New York, who are all struggling for survival, with ingenuity, intelligence and dignity. They all share the dream of a better life.Read More »