Indian diaspora films: quo vadis?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: For long now, it has been not so much India-based directors, as foreign directors of Indian origin who have been carrying aloft the flag of popular Indian cinema overseas - Mira Nair, Gurinder Chadha, Deepa Mehta, Shekhar Kapur.<br /><br />These and related issues will be discussed at a seminar ''Stories R Us'', dovetailed with a Diaspora Film Festival organised by the British Council from March 3-8.<br /><br />The festival includes Udayan Prasad''s double-bill <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Brothers in Trouble </span>and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">My Son the Fanatic</span>, Julian Henriques'' <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Babymother </span>and Shani Grewal''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Guru in Seven</span>, as well as short films.Speakers at the seminar, to be chaired by Dev Benegal, include directors Udayan Prasad and Asif Kapadia, producer Robert Buckler and Cary Sawhney of the British Film Institute.<br /><br />Diaspora films are a growing genre. Contrary to claims, Indian directors haven''t really made the Great Crossover Film. Even Satyajit Ray tiptoed across mainly on the arthouse circuit, though Raj Kapoor had once cracked the popular market in the former USSR and central Asia. <br /><br />Therefore, the pleasure is all the sweeter when, say, a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bend It Like Beckham </span>gains currency in India, the UK and elsewhere.<br /><br />What is interesting is how the diaspora genre has evolved. For instance, while Shekhar Kapur used nary a song or dance in his Indian film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bandit Queen</span>, he employed song and dance and melodrama in his very British film, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Elizabeth</span>. <br /><br />In <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Monsoon Wedding</span>, Mira Nair gave the popular ''Bollywood wedding video'' formula of the ''90s an international spin that none of our home-based directors could manage at the time-though Mani Ratnam''s miraculous blends of art and commerce come close. <br /><br />And look how brilliantly Rajiv Menon''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kandukondain Kandukondain </span>transplanted Jane Austen''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Sense and Sensibility </span>in a tropical Tamil setting.<br /><br />Indian audiences are primed to throw up if they have one more culture clash diaspora film. But films such as <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Brothers in Trouble</span>, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">My Son the Fanatic</span>, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bhaji on the Beach</span> and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Anita and Me </span>transcend mere diaspora labels.</div> </div>