Festival will close with Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan.
Bureau Report
NEW YORK: Feroz Abbas Khan’s Dekh Tamasha Dekh will open the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), while Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan will screen as the closing night film. Both will premiere at the Skirball Center in Manhattan. The NYIFF runs from April 30 through May 4.
Lyrically interwoven, Dekh Tamasha Dekh is a social and political satire that cuts deep to the heart of many current issues, and based on a true story. It is written by renowned Marathi playwright Shafaat Khan, who creates finely nuanced characters with depth and dimensions and sets them against a lush visual backdrop of a small village in India.
Director Feroz Abbas Khan has directed some of India’s finest acting talent during his career of over two decades and he is at the forefront of Indian theatre today. His debut film Gandhi My Father received rave reviews and won several national and international awards. He now showcases his new cinematic vision as the opening night film for the festival.
“IAAC has an imagination that has expanded to embrace and celebrate the artistic expression of the entire sub- continent,” Khan says. “I was privileged to perform my play Mahatma v/s Gandhi as one of its earlier programs. Gandhi My Father was part of the film festival in 2007.”
He adds, “Dekh Tamasha Dekh is a movie I have waited for twelve years to realize. Finally, it was the faith of Mr. Kishore Lulla and Eros International, that it is ready to face the world.”
Debut director Nitin Kakkar brings his cinematic work of art, Filmistaan, exploring Indo-Pak relationships with subtle brilliance. The protagonist, aspiring actor Sharib Hashmi, is assisting an American film crew shooting a documentary in the Indo-Pak border when one night he is kidnapped and held hostage in a small village in Pakistan. When the terrorist group realizes they have kidnapped an Indian and not an American, Hashmi is kept hostage until the mix-up is corrected, and he begins a burgeoning friendship with a young Pakistani.
“We are proud to be the among the first supporters of immensely talented directors like Feroz Abbas Khan and Nitin Kakkar,” says Aseem Chhabra, Festival Director. “It is in keeping with our mission to bring a diverse group of voices to the forefront. The themes of communal harmony and antagonism are shared in our opening and closing films and sheds light to important issues.”