Faces of MIAAC – the unfathomable, the uncomfortable and the unassuming – united in brilliance.

Tori Roy   | Festivals & Contests | November 18, 2009 at 8:17 pm         Print

Just back from New York’s Indian Film Festival. My what a mixed bag that was!

The films screened at the festival will undoubtedly have much written and reviews of all stripes published in the weeks that follow. For me they are united in forging a path and not following one, expressions of bold creativity rather than conformity. Having missed most screenings due to meetings, here I wish to paint pictures of just a handful of faces in the sparkling crowd of talented individuals who caught my eye in ways that was easy to acknowledge.

To have a mega Director from Bombay cross the room saying “I have to say hi” to folks standing on the other side – some of whom lucky to be in the same room, was a lesson in charm and honest humility worn lightly as can be! Anurag Kashyap caught me completely unawares – and looked much younger in real life, might I add.

Then there was the thrill of reliving the Kolkata connection. Here I go more than a bit communal in expressing my delight in speaking and hearing the language of aunts and uncles living on a distant shore that one has not been privy to in several years, now. A treat, for which I thank the duo from the City of Joy – Suman Mukhopadhyay and Aniruddha RC for being here. Both talented as they are unassuming and likeable.

Meanwhile, so humbly sweet was the polite discomfort of the brilliant – and fearless – filmmaker at having admit to a native of Los Angeles how that city by the sea, was not a good venue for screening the sensitive, brave new films that he shall be known for, for a long time to come. Shame on us Angelinos! Here’s a director that deserves better. Next time, Onir, have them screened at Arclight, not Artesia, I suggest to him shamefacedly. LA will not let me down, I hope.

Another first – an eye-opener to the charm and humility one does not expect but was treated to, when a couple of “stars” from the Bollywood that ruled all things cinema in the seventies, eighties and nineties when one was growing up. To have them sit down to dinner with you and laugh and chat leads one to commend the true effortless charm and easy going camaraderie of individuals. Individuals who, even though part of the old studio “star” system (for those that want to subscribe to it) still blow you away as great dinner companions. These talented and beautiful ladies are a breath of fresh air. Thank you, Deepti Naval and Manisha Koirala. To you, I owe an altered perception of Bollywood stardom – which may or may not lead to frustrated expectations down the road but for now I am happy to be bathed in the warmth that was their delightful company.

Compare this with, being told to your face by any man he just “looked through you”, right after being formally introduced to him the evening before – and you get a taste in your mouth, a tad unsavory. At the tip of one’s tongue are words like – “I accede, Mr. Award Winning Actor, mine is not a famous face but in my experience it is one that is not easily consigned to the realm of the invisible, in any social setting. Unless, you are talking about my professional face, that was out that evening. Either way, the action to ‘look through’ me was your choice for reasons best known to you”. But for now one shall desist from rolling out words just because one can. For now one has a movie to make and a team to assemble. Don’t you just hate it when your social face gets in the way of your efforts to conduct serious professional business? Or vice versa? However what is inescapable is the head scratching over why the individual otherwise known as Mr. Blackberry would choose to, in my particular case, not leave a message at my hotel room when he supposedly called that morning, to confirm (or cancel?) a meeting that was as good as set up a while ago but in his mind, perhaps never meant to be. And then this rather bizarre follow up by “He who is the sensitive new face of Indian cinema” has one unamused. Pardon me for assuming there was an explanation of sorts lurking somewhere that evening – waiting to be delivered. One wonders if fame is supposed to be inversely proportional to accountable behavior. If the answer is yes – who am I do dispute it? I shall puzzle not, why in weeks prior, the same individual’s acknowledged interest in my movie based on the value of my script (which also happens to be an award winning one) ended in serving up a thinly veiled insult. I dare say no one is unaware of the process that goes into setting up meetings across coasts and working around schedules to execute several meetings, the rest of which proceeded relatively smoothly. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned there. One shall figure that one out after one finishes the movie, no doubt. Meanwhile one has decided one had best dismiss all this as window dressing and move on.

See you all at IFFLA 2010 – I hope. Keep smiling, all.