Indian Film Festival of Melbourne brings diverse, inclusive Indian cinema to Australia, celebrating the colour, dance, music and spirit that India is known for the world over!

By Radhika Bhirani

Melbourne

Diversity and inclusion, which have taken centrestage in talks surrounding the global entertainment industry, was represented prominently at the recently concluded Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2018.

With Tabrez Noorani’s “Love Sonia” — on the issue of sex trafficking — as the opening film, the ninth edition of the gala saw the box office hit “Sanju”, the issue-based and sensitive “Hichki”, as well as widely acclaimed films like “Village Rockstars”, “Nude”, “Balekempa” and “Gali Guleiyan”.

Australia is a key foreign market for Indian cinema, given that Indians make one of the largest migrant community in the country.

“Even the non-diaspora population is taking a growing interest in what Indian movies have to offer”, said IFFM Director Mitu Bhowmick Lange.

Inclusion: the theme of the film festival, where a cohesive mix of commercial Hindi films, regional movies and indie dramas was screened till August 22.

Lange said : “Inclusion is an all-encompassing, wonderful theme which touches upon all — disabled, gender, sexuality or race. There has been a lot of positive awareness.

“I feel that probably our Indian entertainment industry is the most inclusive industry where your educational background, your caste, creed, race doesn’t really matter as long as you get the work done.”

Still, she feels the global showbiz world has a long way to go as far as being inclusive of the differently abled is concerned. As part of the fest, Rani Mukerji-starrer “Hichki” — a film about a woman with Tourette’s Syndrome – was also shown.

The actress was feted by the Victorian Government, which has been supporting the festival since its third edition.

“The government has embraced the festival. It’s a very tight partnership and that’s the Victorian government’s way of engaging with India — of showing how important India is to Australia and to the Victorian government,” Lange said.

Government officials were also present at the Federation Square on August 11, when Rani hoisted the Indian flag ahead of the Independence Day.

Rani, dressed in a chiffon sari in the biting cold — “in true tradition of a Bollywood heroine” came for the flag hoisting ceremony, which also became a stage for a dance competition, bringing the huge and diverse Indian community of Melbourne together — denoting the unifying power of cinema.

Rani was emotional as she recounted her father’s patriotic themes as she hoisted the flag.

“When we are in India on August 15, the tradition is that in every nook and corner, in buildings and societies, we have the flag hoisting and ever since I was a baby, I would wake up from sleep, I would hear all the patriotic songs playing. And one of them was from my father’s films, which he did in the 1960s with Mr Sunil Dutt.”

She recited a few lines from the song “Chhodo kal ki baatein, kal ki baat puraani, naye daur mein likhenge milkar nayi kahaani… Hum Hindustani, Hum Hindustani.”

“I miss my dad, especially on days like this because he made films like ‘Leader’ and ‘Hum Hindustani’ which had so much of the patriotic spirit. I hope it carries on with new generations,” Rani said.

The Federation Square, despite the rain and chill in the wind, attracted a huge crowd of Indians and non-Indians to celebrate the colour, dance, music and spirit that India is known for the world over.

Some of the other celebrities who were a part of the fest included Rajkumar Hirani, Vicky Kaushal, Simi Garewal, Nikhhil Advani, Richa Chadha, Ali Fazal, Dhanush, Manoj Bajpayee, Malaika Arora, Freida Pinto and Sachin-Jigar.

One day was dedicated to panel discussions, while Simi paid a special tribute to late actor Shashi Kapoor, with whom she featured in the 1972 film “Siddhartha”. The film was screened as well.

Rohena Gera’s “Sir”, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, brought the curtains down on the 12-day Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).
Tillotama Shome spoke strongly of how a culture of inclusivity can begin if people start taking care of prejudices. Starring Tillotama and Vivek Gomber in the lead, the plot revolves around the lives of Ratna, a maid who works for Ashwin, a young man belonging to a wealthy family. When the two make a connection, it leads to barriers between them seeming more insuperable.

“Inclusion begins for me by taking a deep look at my own prejudices and not giving in to the roles that I am accustomed or supposed to play. Such slow, tectonic shifts can be realized by personal revolutions within us. There is no short cut, we have been playing the divide and rule game for too long. I am culpable and unless I don’t recognise it, I cannot begin to create an inclusive world.”
The jury members for the fest, launched by Mitu Bhowmick Lange, comprised Simi Garewal, Sue Maslin, Jill Bilcock, Nikkhil Advani and Geoffrey Wright.

Wright, known for the Russell Crowe-starrer “Romper Stomper”, said that he was mighty impressed by the variety that Indian cinema currently has on offer. He said he feels that “perhaps it has gone from recreation to being serious cinema”.

India’s colourful and diverse culture was very much a part of the awards celebration as there were the beats of the dhol, performers dressed in traditional Indian classical attires, Odissi dance, Bhangra and more.

Composers Sachin-Jigar added the chutzpah with some of their Bollywood tracks.

IFFM attracted a huge crowd of Indians and non-Indians to celebrate the colour, dance, music and spirit that India is known for the world over.

As inclusion, the theme of IFFM this year, the performances saw old, young and specially challenged participants putting up a heart-warming show.
Highlights:

• Rajkumar Hirania’s “Sanju” walked away with the Best Film honour at the Westpac IFFM Awards night, where Manoj Bajpayee won the Best Actor for his yet-to-release “Gali Guleiyan” and Rani Mukerji was named Best Actress for her performance in “Hichki”.

• The IFFM Vanguard Award went to actor Ranbir Kapoor for his “breakthrough performance” in bringing alive Sanjay’s tumultuous life journey on-screen.

• Vicky won the supporting actor honour for his well-deserved performance as Kamli in “Sanju”, and Richa Chadha won it too as she won the jury’s heart with her power-packed role as a brothel owner in “Love Sonia”. A Diversity Award was bestowed upon Freida Pinto.

• The Equality In Cinema Award was given to “Mahanati”, the widely acclaimed Telugu and Tamil film on the life of south Indian actress Savitri, who made a mark in the 1950s and 1960s.

• Actor Ali Fazal, who was the jury of the short film competition, chose “To-let” as the Indian winner and the Australian winner was “Found”, which is on Islamophobia.

Richa also gave away the IFFM Heroes Award, which celebrates real life heroes who have done good deeds.