mumbai: there has been an enthusiastic reception to a large number of films at the international film festival of mumbai. the main venue, the imax adlabs multiplex at wadala, with four theatres seating 350 and 250, has seen jampacked shows with people crowding the aisles. the films have been fairly well received at the tata and chavan theatres as well.
in fact, to accommodate audience enthusiasm, the festival is being extended for another day, till thursday. gurinder chadha's what's cooking was a superb film, focussing on how immigrant families in the us __ spanish, vietnamese, jewish and blacks __ celebrate thanksgiving dinner. it was lovely to hear the audience audibly inhaling the delicious aromas as the camera slurped greedily over the heaving dinner tables. as in her bhaji on the beach, she tackles some of our deepest racial prejudices and stereotypes. there are happy endings in handfuls, but they exhilarate because they are hard won; the director arrives at them by working her way through individual griefs. it's about food is the basic glue that holds families together and all with a light humour. it is a delicate balance between taking the sting out but leaving a weal, and chadha pulls it off with panache. this film and london-based asif kapadia's the warrior (made in hindi), which has just won the prestigious sutherland trophy for the ``most original and imaginative debut'' film at the london film festival, is part of the film india worldwide package. the latter, featuring irfan khan, is about the journey of redemption of a violent warrior. despite its flaws, it is a film made with assurance (kapadia is just 29), and can count its cinematography among its strengths. others in the package include ismail merchant's the mystic masseur, murali nair's pattiyude divasam (a dog's day, which was at cannes), pan nalin's ayurvedathe art of being, american desi, passage to ottawa and revathy's mitr-my friend. zhang yimou's the road home was an exquisite, old fashioned love story, told in the most painterly manner. about a man who returns to his village for his father's funeral, the story is told in flashback of his mother's tender relationship with his father. it was among the best of the festival so far. postmen in the mountains was another gentle, quiet and moving film about a retiring postman who hands over his job to his son. other films we are watching out for include taiwan's betelnut beauty. among the more popular fest films are mark lamprell's my mother frank, the wonderful oscar-winning czech film kolya, while maelstrom and possible worlds had their fair share of votaries. the iranian package, as usual, was superb, if mixed. rakhshan bani-etemad's the may lady (about a divorced woman whose son resents her falling in love again), and maryam shahriar's daughters of the sun (about the exploitation of a woman whose head is shaved, so she can get a job as a boy, and dealing with a lesbian relationship) were films of a high order, and daring both for iran and india. one rejoices to see images of iranian women. in the may lady, the protagonist is wrapped up in a head-to-toe gown, but she is a filmmaker, lives in a swank flat with modern art on its walls, and her son, in faded denim jeans, speeds about the city roads in their car. engagingly, her new love remains a voice on the phone, we never see him, and at the end, convinced that even mothers are entitled to happiness, when she picks up the phone and calls him, we feel a vicarious triumph. the cart is a charming, heartwarming film about a mischievous boy whose father, a pomegranate pedlar, keeps him locked in a box under his cart. talk of iranian fathers who do baby sitting while at work! told from the boy's point of view, its strength is in its small, everyday details. anyone who threatens to make children's films in india should first take a look at such convincing performances and storylines, and there are even better iranian films focusing on children. watch out for abbas kiarostami's and life goes on (where he revisits the earthquake-devastated village where he shot his wonderful film where is the friends home?), majid majidi's the father (about a boy whos forced to take on adult responsibilities when his father dies) and the last village (about a man running a mobile library who visits a remote village), willow and wind (about two schoolboys who must repair a broken window pane) directed by mohammad ali talebi, with a screenplay by abbas kiarostami. of the indian films, those recommended or that have been popular include goutam ghose's dekha, nabyendu chatterjee's mansur mian-ar ghoda, fareeda mehta's kali salwaar, tapan sinha's daughters of the century, r sarath's sayahnnam, biju viswanath's dij` vu, gul bahar singh's the goal and subrata sen's the girl. the retrospectives at imax were hugely popular. they included the czech master peter bacso's classics, including the witness and oh, bloody life, banana skin waltz, stalin's bride and what's the time, mr clock? many of them offer stinging, boisterous, hilarious vitriolic views of communism. you can see some of this spirit continues in the work of younger directors like emir kusturica. the retro of japanese director junji sakamoto (face, knock out), revealed a great empathy for idiosyncratic rebels. the ritwik ghatak retro, needless to say, was ever rejuvenating, with meghe dhaka tara, ajantrik, komal gandhar and more. the alain corneau retrospective includes his film noir/detective films (serie noire, police python 357) as well as the superb tous les matins du monde (all the mornings of the world). the french package includes eric rohmer's an autumn tale and the light comedy of francois gerard's meet the baltringues, an ode to love. also keep your eyes peeled for bruce spangler's protection (about the dilemmas of a `child protection social worker removing the children of a heroin addict mother to a foster home), jonathan glazer's sexy beast featuring ben kingsley.
