A series of films and scripts with an Indian flavour make up the 2024 line-up of the 68th annual BFI London Film Festival (LFF), which opens across different venues next month. From Reema Kagti directed depiction of the true story of ‘Superboys of Malegaon’ to Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Film Festival celebrated ‘All We Imagine as Light’, there is a lot in store for Indian cinema fans.
Here is a snapshot of the films to watch out for across various LFF Strands as tickets go on sale this week…
SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON – dir. Reema Kagti
Create Strand
A ragtag crew of filmmakers with no resources end up creating a cult phenomenon in this uplifting true-story tale. Malegaon is only six hours driving distance from Mumbai, the filmmaking capital of India. For Nasir Shaikh, one of the city’s residents who pretty much
eats, sleeps and dreams movies, Bollywood is a distant yet alluring dream.
Director Reema Kagti chronicles the heart-warming true story of Shaikh as he crowdsources a wave of ingenious spoof films that become a national phenomenon.
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT – dir. Payal Kapadia
Special Presentation
The lives of three women intersect and overlap in a haunting drama that sees the city of Mumbai play a central role. Prabha, Anu and Parvaty are employees at a hospital in Mumbai. They grapple daily with the opportunities and hardships of existence in the city. Balancing an immersive verité style with a touch of the surreal, Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix-winning drama captures the many shades of working-class life in Mumbai. The result is a profound and deeply humanist meditation on urban migration and dislocation.
A NICE INDIAN BOY – dir. Roshan Sethi
BFI Flare Special Presentation
It’s impossible not to say ‘I do’ to Roshan Sethi’s delightful romantic comedy, starring Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff. When Naveen meets Jay, a whirlwind romance quickly leads to an engagement. But there’s an issue: Naveen has yet to introduce Jay to his family, and he isn’t quite what that they were expecting.
Putting a fresh queer and Indian spin on the tropes of the romcom, ‘A Nice Indian Boy’ is a charming, warm-hearted celebration of love and acceptance.
MORE LIKE THIS…
SANTOSH – dir. Sandhya Suri
Sutherland Award – First Feature Competition
In this taut, north India-set thriller, a housewife-turned-cop is sucked into a high-profile case that has polarised the local community. Santosh is recently widowed and therefore considered a liability in a community where casteism and misogyny are an inextricable part of life.
Furthermore, her reluctant inheritance of her husband’s job as police constable is problematised by her having to deal with the death of a murdered teenager. Sandhya Suri’s deft thriller is a complex character study of a female cop whose moral conflict lays bare the oppression perpetuated in the name of caste.
SISTER MIDNIGHT – dir. Karan Kandhari
Cult Strand
A genre-bending comedy about a frustrated and misanthropic newlywed who discovers certain feral impulses that land her in unlikely situations. Uma, a disillusioned newlywed with zero domestic skills, lives in her husband’s cramped one-room flat. Trapped in an unending domestic hell, she sets out to explore the city on her own, only to embrace fresh impulses and desires.
With its dark physical comedy, feminist undertones and impressive mashing of genres, ‘Sister Midnight’ is a strikingly distinctive feature that defies easy categorisation.
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THE CHURNING – dir. Shyam Benegal
Treasures Strand
Restored by Film Heritage Foundation, this potent, political landmark of Indian independent filmmaking from 1976 – famously funded by 500,000 farmers – explores the ugly truths of class and caste in rural Gujarat. When a city vet arrives in a poor village, he encounters shocking inequalities. Attempting to pay the dairy farmers a fair price for their milk, he rocks deep-rooted hierarchies and the stability of village life. Based on the true story of the world’s biggest dairy development programme, this is an extraordinary portrait of social change and the power of cinema itself.
*Info: London Film Festival 2024