Late as usual. Thirty minutes of the movie had already flown by. When I am uncertain about which film to watch, I go for the film that has been made by an Indian. Not jingoism, just like that. So Sachin Kundalkar’s Gandha (not to be confused with Gandhi) it was. Luckily the film was a compendium of three short films, with no hyper linking. This meant that even latecomers like me were able to enjoy part of it.
Had to pop out for a family function but popped right back in for the 3.30 show of Los Bastardos. This film because the title was very Tarantino-esque. And surely enough, there was an hour long scene in the film which built steadily, meandered into irrelevance and had a sudden, bloody end.
For no reason in particular, I have been avoiding short films at these festivals. This time I broke my rule. The short film competition for young directors had 25 films in the finals out of 71 entries with Mumbai as the theme. The screening of the finalists had all directors present. Terrorism inflicted on Mumbai was a recurring theme and thus revealed a lack of originality. And Mumbai means much more than a montage of shots featuring the Gateway of India and the local trains. A handful of the films were really nice and some just plain bad. Makes me shudder to think what the rejects must have been like. If I were to choose a winner, it would be Kala Khatta with Udaan coming in a close second.
The last one for the day was Cash and Curry as part of the Film India Worldwide section. We were informed that the film had to be made on a shoestring budget as the financer had backed out at the last moment. But that’s no excuse for bad writing. The dialogues were peppered with the F-word as a substitute for wit. Within minutes of the start of the film, one person walked out of the auditorium. Soon others followed and ultimately it led to a cascading effect. I joined the mob too. Felt sorry for the director and actor who had come in from London just for this. A Q & A session was to follow the screening…if there would be any audience at all.
Warning for tomorrow: The Oscar winning documentary, Man on Wire will be screened. Grab your seats at least an hour in advance, lest you want to be known as the Man on Steps.
