Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival: These 10 Films Will Compete In The India Gold Section
The Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival with Star, India's biggest film festival for cinematic disruption and discovery, has announced its line-up for its prestigious India Gold section - the exclusive competition category for the latest Indian films from across the country. The 10 films at MAMI 2019 are an exciting celebration of India's cultural diversity. This includes languages like Pahari, Maithili, Assamese, Nepali, Hindustani, and Bengali. The 21st edition of the festival also marks the return of a host of creators from the Jio MAMI with Star family.
Bhaskar Hazarika, who's film The River of Fables (Kothanodi) also screened at the festival in 2015 is back with his new film, Ravening (Aamis) which will have its Asia Premiere at the section (the film had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year). Archana Atul Phadke's Marathi documentary, About Love will be premiering this year (after winning the best film award for her short film, Sagar Setu in Dimensions Mumbai, 2009) along with Prateek Vats' Eeb Allay Ooo! (A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings premiered at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star, 2017).
Jio MAMI with Star will world premiere three films out of the 10 in competition - Pushpendra Singh's Pearl of the Desert (Maru ro Moti), Achal Mishra's Gamak Ghar and Saurav Rai's Invitation (Nimtoh) along with 6 India premieres - Gitanjali Rao's Bombay Rose and Kislay's Just Liked That (Aise Hi) among others.
Archana Atul Phadke's short film Uski Baarish was showcased at TIFF Kids International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival among 34 other reputed film festivals. Saurav Rai's short film, Gudh was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cinéfondation selection. Gitanjali Rao's Bombay Rose just world premiered at Venice Film Festival (Critics' Week) and has screened at Toronto International Film Festival. The India Gold selection, like each year, has some of the most dynamic and versatile directors who have won accolades for their exceptional storytelling.
Bombay Rose | Dir. Gitanjali Rao | India, United Kingdom, France, Qatar | 2019 | 93 min
Voice
Cast:
Cyli
Khare,
Amit
Deondi,
Gargi
Shitole,
Makrand
Deshpande.
Synopsis:
Escaping
from
child
marriage,
a
flower
seller
living
on
the
streets
of
Bombay
also
dances,
reluctantly,
in
a
club.
She
must
choose
between
fending
for
her
family
and
finding
true
love.
Painted
frame
by
frame
and
woven
delicately
through
music,
a
red
rose
brings
together
three
tales
of
impossible
love.
Love
between
two
flower
sellers.
Love
between
two
women.
Love
of
an
entire
city
for
its
Bollywood
stars.
Based
on
true
events,
the
film
explores
the
ruthlessness
of
a
society
where
the
love
and
life
that
reign
on
the
big
screen
can
crush
you
in
its
mean
streets.
About Love | Dir. Archana Atul Phadke | India | 2019 | 90 min
Cast:
Atul
Phadke,
Maneesha
Phadke,
Rohan
Phadke,
Sagarika
Phadke,
Lali
Phadke,
Madhav
Phadke,
Neela
Phadke,
Sushila
Bai,
Gurbani
Bagga
Synopsis:
Who
are
the
people
behind
the
identities
assigned
to
them
by
the
institution
of
family?
A
filmmaker
turns
the
camera
towards
three
generations
of
her
family
inside
their
ancestral
home
-
the
102-year-old
Phadke
Building
in
downtown
Mumbai.
Mining
their
daily
routines
and
rituals,
About
Love
deconstructs
the
dynamics
of
one
eccentric
household,
studies
its
gender
dynamics
and
brings
unexpected
revelations
for
a
daughter
rediscovering
her
family
from
behind
the
lens.
Bitter Chestnut (Khanaur) | Dir. Gurvinder Singh | India | 2019 | 100 min
Cast:
Kishan
Katwal,
Pawan
Kumar,
Rani
Devi,
Gopi
Katwal,
Bankhri
Devi,
Monisha
Mukundan
Synopsis:
Kishan,
17,
wavers
between
his
own
desires
and
his
family's
hopes
for
him.
He
has
to
make
a
choice:
should
he
live
a
predictable
life
in
his
remote
Himalayan
village
or
migrate
to
the
city?
Working
in
a
café
and
witnessing
migrations
and
reverse-migrations,
he
has
disturbed
sleep
and
nightmares.
Sometimes
he
has
visions
while
awake-flashes
of
fleeting
but
strong
images.
The
film
looks
at
the
aspirations,
fears,
and
insecurities
of
living
in
present
times
through
Kishan's
eyes.
Eeb Allay Ooo! | Dir. Prateek Vats | India | 2019 | 98 min
Cast:
Mahinder
Nath,
Shardul
Bhardwaj,
Shashi
Bhushan,
Nutan
Sinha,
Naina
Sareen,
Nitin
Goel,
Kapil
Madan.
Synopsis:
A
young
migrant
battles
hordes
of
monkeys
in
the
heart
of
New
Delhi
as
a
contractual
monkey
repeller
-
a
newly
created
government
job
to
tackle
the
monkeys
who
have
been
further
emboldened
by
the
recent
ban
on
the
use
of
captive
langurs,
their
natural
enemy.
Gamak Ghar | Dir. Achal Mishra | India | 91 min
Cast:
Abhinav
Jha,
Bikram
Singh,
Mira
Jha,
Satyendra
Jha.
Synopsis:
In
a
North
Indian
village,
a
family
reunites
at
their
ancestral
home
to
celebrate
a
new
birth
in
the
family.
It's
a
joyous,
carefree
occasion.
Over
the
next
two
decades,
through
festivals
and
feasts,
births
and
deaths,
the
film
observes
one
house
as
it
ages
and
falls
to
neglect.
Invitation (Nimtoh) | Dir. Saurav Rai | India | 2019 | 85 min
Cast:
Pravesh
Gurung,
Chandra
Dewan,
Sunil
Rai,
Teresa
Rai,
Digbijay
Singh
Rai,
Tinkle,
Ginger.
Synopsis:
Ten-year-old
Tashi
and
his
ageing
grandma
live
as
tenants
to
a
wealthy
family,
in
a
remote
mountain
village
in
Darjeeling.
Their
job
is
to
look
after
the
family's
cardamom
orchard
and
guard
it
at
night
from
wild
animals.
An
approaching
wedding
at
their
patron's
house
excites
Tashi.
But
will
they
invite
him?
Just Like That (Aise Hi) | Dir. Kislay | India | 2019 | 109 min
Cast:
Mohini
Sharma,
Harish
Khanna,
Sadhna
Singh,
Shivam
Sharma,
Trimala
Adhikari.
Synopsis:
Mrs.
Sharma
is
the
wife
of
a
respected,
small-time
government
employee
in
small-town
Allahabad.
When
her
husband
dies,
she
is
expected
to
move
in
with
her
son
and
grandchildren.
But
the
woman
wants
to
live
by
herself.
She
stops
going
to
the
temple,
buys
herself
things
without
worrying
about
the
expense,
makes
friends
with
a
girl
half
her
age
and
chooses
to
spend
more
time
with
her
new
friend
than
with
her
family.
When
Mrs.
Sharma
decides
to
learn
doll-making
with
a
Muslim
tailor
called
Ali,
the
entire
locality,
including
her
own
family,
slowly
turn
against
her.
In
a
climate
of
increasing
tensions,
Ali
begins
to
fear
for
his
life,
and
Mrs.
Sharma
must
face
the
consequences.
Pearl of the Desert (Maru ro Moti) | Dir. Pushpendra Singh | India, South Korea | 2019 | 82 min
Cast:
Moti
Khan
Manganiyar,
Anwar
Khan
Manganiyar,
Nijre
Khan
Manganiyar.
Synopsis:
Moti
Khan,
a
musically
gifted
child
from
the
lower
caste
Muslim
Manganiyars
of
the
Thar
Desert,
is
forced
to
sing
and
play
music
for
their
ancestral
patrons
in
order
to
survive,
even
though
he
finds
it
humiliating.
Sattar,
his
father,
wants
Moti
to
study
and
make
a
career
outside
music.
But
Moti
aspires
to
be
a
successful
singer
so
that
he
is
treated
respectfully.
He
leaves
his
village
behind
and
sets
out
on
a
journey
to
discover
his
music.
Ravening (Aamis) | Dir. Bhaskar Hazarika | India | 2019 | 108 min
Cast:
Lima
Das,
Arghadeep
Baruah,
Neetali
Das,
Sagar
Saurabh.
Synopsis:
Nirmali,
a
married
paediatrician
in
her
late
30s,
leads
a
peaceful
but
joyless
domestic
existence
in
Guwahati,
Assam.
One
day,
she
meets
Sumon,
a
young
PhD
student
researching
food
habits
in
North-Eastern
India,
who
warms
up
to
her
in
a
manner
she
seems
unaccustomed
to.
Sumon's
work
exposes
him
to
the
belief
that
there's
no
kind
of
food
that
can
be
considered
abnormal,
and
Nirmali
is
drawn
to
this
idea.
The
two
quickly
discover
a
shared
love
for
food
-
specifically,
meat.
Together,
they
bond
over
meals
comprising
unusual
meats
on
platonic
dates,
although
Sumon
longs
for
physical
contact.
As
Nirmali's
taste
buds
grow
more
adventurous,
their
relationship
takes
a
dark
and
bizarre
turn
neither
had
expected.
That Cloud Never Left | Dir. Yashaswini Raghunandan | 2019 | 65 min
Cast:
Kakoli
Das,
Chickoo
Das,
Rakesh
Das,
Baban
Gosh,
Babloo
Captain.
Synopsis:
The
children
of
Daspara
are
convinced
there
is
a
ruby
hidden
somewhere
within
their
village.
They
go
looking
for
it
every
day,
inventing
various
games
to
make
this
search
less
frustrating.
Meanwhile,
two
friends
in
their
early
30s
who
build
toys
for
a
living,
Chickoo
and
Baban,
have
decided
to
build
their
biggest
toy
yet.
A
tall
bamboo
ladder
with
a
single
eye,
which
can
be
used
to
climb,
sit,
perform,
get
better
mobile
network,
look
at
the
village
from
atop
or
watch
the
sky
from
afar.
Grounded
by
the
porch
is
Kakoli
didi,
who
spends
her
afternoons
dreaming
of
the
return
of
her
husband
and
sons,
who
migrate
from
city
to
city,
selling
toys.
Last year, Jio MAMI with Star premiered some great titles like Ridham Janve's The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain, Aadish Keluskar's Jaoon Kahan Bata Ae Dil, Vinit Chandrasekharan's Buddha, Ivan Ayr's Soni and Dominic Sangma's MA•AMA.
Speaking about the line-up this year, Smriti Kiran, Artistic Director, MAMI said, "India Gold is at the heart of our selection. We are an International film festival but bringing the best Indian narratives to the world and to India is at the core of our mission. Festivals from across the world have now begun to look at us as the gateway to credible Indian cinema and we take that responsibility very seriously. I am happy we are able to take the narrative forward for our storytellers a notch higher every year."
Director of About Love, Archana Atul Phadke commented, "It was at Dimensions Mumbai 2009, where my first short film, Sagar Setu had played and won the best film award. It was the same year that my producer, editor and best friend's film, Udaan won the Jury award. Year and again, we would apply to the festival and come back with our films. Four years after our last film Placebo, we are very excited to bring the story of home, with About Love, to my hometown at MAMI 2019".
Achal Mishra, Director, Gamak Ghar said, "It feels unreal. I have been attending MAMI for the last three years. Sitting there in the dark, watching and learning from some of the best films from around the world, I couldn't have imagined my own film playing on the big screen to such an avid audience. It's an honour to be invited to premiere my debut film in the India Gold section!"
The India Gold films will be watched by a Jury of esteemed film personalities from around the world. The Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival with Star will take place from the 17th to 24th October, 2019. Take a look at the 10 films in India Gold.