In
addition to the stellar lineup of over 200 movies set to be screened at the
city’s most eagerly awaited cultural event, the 14th Mumbai Film Festival,
presented by Reliance Entertainment and American Express and organized by the
Mumbai Academy of Moving Image, promises to offer a platform to showcase young
and talented Mumbai based filmmakers in a competition segment titled Dimensions
Mumbai. A brain child of veteran actor and a distinguished Trustee of MAMI Mrs.
Jaya Bachchan, Dimensions Mumbai is a short film competition open to young
Mumbaikars below the age of 25 years and features short films of less than five
minutes in duration made in any format and depicting any aspect of life in
Mumbai.
Harmony
by director Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha portrays the harmony demonstrated by different
cultures that exist in Mumbai and describes how they respond to situations of
crisis and tackle it to rise above hate in the end.
Errol
Peter Marks’ film Kaarwaa chronicles
the journey of the illustrious city of Mumbai, spanning from the year 1820 to
2012 and portraying all the joys and sorrows this city has experienced.
Director
Shriya Pilgaonkar has adopted a very novel approach towards Dresswala, a film tracing the evolution
of Indian cinema through the costumes of Maganlal Dresswala, one of the oldest
and most prominent costume designer houses in the country.
Mumbai, A Long Live
Local
by budding director Abhishek U. Masurkar narrates the tale of the city that
never sleeps from the perspective of the underlying busy night life that many
have not seen or experienced by residents of the city.
Director
Sudhanshu Prakash Sawant’s Aankhon Dekha
Haal is a metaphor for the story of Mumbai and the State assembly shown
through a couple watching the news of the state assembly catching fire on TV,
while their son enjoys a pornographic book under the pretense of studying, while
slyly keeping an eye on his parents and how the consequences that follow
eventually lead him to burn the magazine.
Bombay Kulfi by Vaibhav Hiwase is
an inspiring story about a child who with excitement about his little world in
his shop and a unique interest in doing odd jobs sells ice-cream in this multi-coloured
city. The film highlights the boy’s fascination by the vibrant sound of gully-
cricket, the local dialect depicting different shades of the city and its
young, unbeatable soul.
Director
Nitin Rane’s film Mumbai Geometry is
literally about the differently shaped objects found around that help construct
the geometry of this magnificent Mumbai.
Aspiring
director and student of Mass Media, Vaibhav S. Dhandha’s film Mumbai Healing is about the atrocities
faced by Mumbai. It shows in a very abstract manner (with the use of visual
effects) what Mumbai has faced as a city with regards to violence and terrorism
and what Mumbai has in itself to survive all this and come up even stronger
therefore making it one of the greatest cities in the world.
Hero directed by Mandar
Dewalkar celebrates the lives of the unsung icons of Mumbai and pays tribute to
the hero within every human being.
Aayega Ek Sunday by Ensia Mirza tells
the story of one day in the life of Krishna, a chaiwala in Mumbai who works
throughout the week in anticipation of a Sunday, a day which is meant to enjoy life
as he feels like.
Abhijeet
Bhimrao Gaikwad’s Dreams..... Under
Construction displays the stark reality about the ever-expanding city of
Mumbai where almost everyone dreams of having a home in one of the tall
skyscrapers that are multiplying every day and almost choking the city. The
film gives one keen insights into how apathetic people have become towards
those who toil and help them fulfill their dreams. The underlying premise of
the question the film asks is: Do we ever consider that an ordinary mason who
strives hard to build our dreams might have some of his own dreams that remain
unconstructed?
Tunes by Madhura G Mahajan
lends a ear to the interesting tunes playing amidst the chaos in the city
running-against-time.
Director
Bakhtiyar Peerzada’s film The Essence of
Mumbai captures the true colors and essence of Mumbai through the eyes of
the common man as he goes about his daily life. From a taxi-driver to a
cotton-candy seller to a street urchin, despite the responsibilities of
survival and innumerable other tensions on their minds, all of them maintain a
smile plastered on their faces.
Aajoba by Nihit S Mhatre
focuses on the lives of senior citizens who are breathing under the dark shadows
of the bustling city of Mumbai. Today is not an ordinary day for an ordinary
65-year-old man. He is expecting more monthly phone calls or yearly visits from
his loved ones than he usually gets on that single day. Do his wishes come
true?
Director
Ashish Manohar Naik’s film Dreamweaver
is about nineteen-year-old Rohit who lives alone in this city of dreams and
works as a cobbler to earn money for his education. While working, he observes
some men with a corporate demeanor who come to a tea stall next to his shop. He
is attracted by their lifestyle and is inspired by them. He too has a dream.
Situations make him envision himself as an achiever sometimes, and occasionally,
as a loser. This twisted state of mind is cleared when he meets someone who
indirectly inspires him to think positively.
Aath Aana, a film by director
Devarsh A. Thaker narrates the story of an innocent child trying to find the
meaning and value of a 50 paise coin that is now shunned by the people of this
perpetual, teeming city, which was once the reason for its rapture.
IF by budding filmmaker
Zeeshaan Ali Siddiqui relates the life of Shaan, an aspiring filmmaker, the only
son and apple of his mother’s eye who meets with a train accident while on his
way to meet a film producer. Lying brutally injured on the tracks, he gives his
life a second thought.
Local, a film by director
Bharat Suresh Pawar accounts the life of a newly married couple who try to
foster their romance amidst the noisy cacophony of the city slums and the
Mumbai local trains.
Diector
Mandar Kokamkar’s film Do Rupaye Ka Pen
brings to life the story of a pen that costs a mere Rs. 2/-. The protagonist the
pen, is always teased by the fellow pens in the shop. He believes he’ll have to
stay in this shop forever as everyone prefers buying costlier pens. One day, a
poor school boy appears and asks to buy him. The pen, disgusted about being
bought by a poor boy, decides to run away from his master but realizes that he
is wrong as his owner considers him very important, and then helps the young
boy to succeed.
Mumbai by director Vedanti
Chandrakant Dani tells the story of a girl who is brought to Mumbai from her
village by a rich family who enrolls her at school, but exploit her as domestic
labour. She escapes from the house at midnight and experiences the dark side of
Mumbai.
Director
Ajay Singh’s film Safar is about a
student from Mumbai, who is stuck in his daily routine and has lost his temper
because of the shallowness that the city offers. Remaining indifferent yet concerned,
this film takes you through his thoughts and emotions.
BSNL by director Chinmay
Nagesh Dalvi describes the struggle for survival in Mumbai. Balu, a Maharashtrian
and Shikha a Punjabi are busy discussing their future when they are interrupted
by a couple from rural Maharashtra who
shares the same thread of struggle to live in this city, but only with a
different perspective towards life.
Director
Sagar Kolte’s film Maooli describes
how every new man coming to this city overcomes the challenges in his path and
makes his whole day successful. One such man boards a local train and is
tormented by the crowd and a group of bhajan singers. He suffers this quietly,
also dealing with his own personal problems. Soon, he finds himself adjusting
to the environment around as he starts to feel comfortable.
Ek Artist Ki Maut by Rahul Pandey
adopts an interesting narrative by a deserted house about its former resident,
a writer who was killed in a bomb blast.
Introduced
to mark the 10th Anniversary of MAMI, Dimensions Mumbai provides young
filmmakers with a chance to reach out to film buffs and offers the audience new
vistas to a city which dreams and breathes cinema. The competition segment will
be judged by an eminent panel comprising of Pune based ace filmmaker Unmesh
Kulkarni (Jury President), acclaimed actor Sanjay Suri, multi talented animator,
filmmaker and theatre actress Gitanjali Rao and renowned filmmaker Reema Kagti.
The
festival will also host special event segments dedicated to French, Italian and
Afghan cinema as well as silent films accompanied by a live orchestra, and
provide attendees with an opportunity to be audience to panel discussions and
participate in workshops conducted at the National Centre for the Performing
Arts (NCPA) by cinematic luminaries from around the globe.
The
14th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival is scheduled from the 18th – 25th
October, 2012 at National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) & Inox,
Nariman Point, Liberty Cinemas, Marine Lines as the main festival venues and
Cinemax, Andheri and Cinemax Sion as the satellite venues.
