One of the big draws at this year’s Indian Film Festival of Ireland (IFFI) will no doubt be the screening of Ek Tha Tiger. When the crew spent a few days shooting around Trinity back in 2011, I was one of those people that hung around for hours to watch the action from an inconvenient distance. I couldn’t help it. And now, in 2013, the strange novelty of seeing my own stomping ground get some Bollywood face time will surely be enough of a draw to get me (and people like me) through the door.
But Ek Tha Tiger offers something more interesting than just an international shout-out. The film was created with a very clear, very meticulous international appeal in mind. The film’s marketing as an American-style blockbuster in both Anglophone and East Asian markets (as well as at home) would have been strange for a major Bollywood release a few years ago, but it seems to be more and more the norm these days. And yet, though the film does brag about its more Western appeal, anybody who stalked the Trinity shoot will know that the film is true to the lavish, mostly unfamiliar aesthetics that Indian filmmaking is best associated with.
The festival’s contemporary commercial films all seem to be marketed in that same way: Their posters all talk about the visceral thrills and focused storytelling that Western audiences seem to need, but there’s plenty of Bollywood flamboyance in there too, separating them from the competition. It’s a strange dichotomy, one that’s simultaneously trying to expose more and more people to India’s wonderful and esoteric film vernacular while at the same time trying to dilute it in the hopes that the film travels further.
What’s interesting about the IFFI line-up is how that tension is teased out elsewhere in the programme. The 1965 classic Waqt is getting a prominent billing, hailed today for its tightly-crafted narrative and exuberant visual style. Waqt was directed by the late Yash Chopra – the man whose company is behind Ek Tha Tiger over 45 years later.
More than just a retrospective nod to a recently departed figure in the industry, the contrasts between Waqt and Ek Tha Tiger (not to mention Chopra’s other appearance on the programme, directing 2012’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan) tells the story of the development of India’s commercial film industry. At one time the master of India’s unique domestic film culture, one that could gleefully drift between scenes of music and action and melodrama across huge runtimes, in his last days Chopra was trying to find the right balance for a globalised audience. While not everybody will be happy to see Bollywood go international, it seems to be the path they’re on.
The IFFI is also highlighting some of India’s other filmmaking cultures. 1985’s Ghare Baire features on the programme, a latter film of Satyajit Ray, one of the greats of international art filmmaking and India’s main ambassador to European festivals for many years. A filmmaker often spoken of in the kind of profound, superlative terms usually reserved for Yasujiro Ozu, Ray’s commitment to the subtle, lingering realism of international filmmaking traditions has found him a place in the company of the masters. Berlinale darling Gattu (2012) offers a more contemporary look at that hidden tradition of independent Indian filmmaking.
The organisers of the IFFI seem to be reacting to a national film culture that’s in a state of transition. They’re packing a very diverse mix of commercial, art and legacy films into one weekend, running the risk of leaving newcomers a little lost. As a condensed snapshot of India’s rich commercial and independent filmmaking traditions, however, the weekend looks like it could be a solid crash course for the committed cineaste.
Here’s a rundown of the weekend. Screenings take place at Movies @ Dundrum, Rua Red Tallaght, and FilmBase Screening Temple Bar.
Friday 7th June
Vicky Donor (2012) – Rua Red Tallaght – 6pm
Passage To India (1984) – FilmBase Screenings – 6pm
Meherjaan (2011) – Movies @ Dundrum – 6.30pm
Saturday 8th June
Shanghai (2012) – Movies @ Dundrum – 4pm
Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) – Movies @ Dundrum – 7pm
Sunday 9th June
Celluloid Man (2012) – FilmBase Screenings –3pm
Ek Tha Tiger (2012) – Movies @ Dundrum – 4pm
Das Capital – FilmBase Screenings – 6pm
Vishwaroopam (2013) – Movies @ Dundrum – 7pm
Monday 10th June
Gattu (2011) – Movies @ Dundrum – 11.30am
Pan Singh Tomer (2011) – Movies @ Dundrum – 3pm
Ghare Baire (1984) – FilmBase Screenings – 6pm
Waqt (Time) (2005) – Rua Red Tallaght – 6pm
OMG – Oh My God (2012) – Movies @ Dundrum – 7pm
