The “Not Just Bollywood” season at Manchester’s independent cinema and arts complex HOME returns this September with a variety of films screenings – specifically Indian independent films directed by women.
Here’s a closer look at the films on show and trailers so you can decide which to go and see.
Deepa Mehta’s The Elements Trilogy
Fire – Weds 11 Sep 2019 at 18.05
Earth – Sun 15 Sep 2019 at 15.45
Water – Wed 18 Sep 2019 at 18.00
First up, a trilogy of controversial films on hard-hitting topics from director Deepa Mehta.
Starting with Fire in 1996, Earth in 1998 and Water in 2005 these films looked at gender, sexuality, violence and religion and a lot of people weren’t happy with how their communities were represented at the time (and some probably still feel that way today!)
HOME is screening all three films across the season:
Lipstick Under My Burkha
Showing Sat 21 Sep 2019 at 18.00
Now for something a little more light-hearted, although still controversy-causing!
This comedy from director Alankrita Shrivastava struggled to get through the Indian film censorship board, and its eventual mainstream release in India in 2017 was “hailed as a victory for Indian women“. The film looks at the secret lives of four small-town Indian woman:
A Death in the Gunj
Showing Sun 22 Sep 2019 at 15.50
Ooh now we get onto something more suspenseful – what could go wrong when a group of family and friends go on holiday together???
Kalki Koechlin is one of my fave actresses and the ensemble cast of this film also includes her “Made in Heaven” co-star Jim Sarbh.
Sir
Showing Sat 28 Sep 2019 at 17.00
Shown at The Cannes Film Festival last year, the trailer for this film makes me think of a cinderella-esque story, set in Mumbai, but instead of the prince swooping in to save the lady, the heroine here (working as a maid for her “Sir”) is doing her own thing and working it to achieve her dreams of becoming a tailor.
Namdev Bhau in Search of Silence
Showing Sun 29 Sep 2019 at 13.50
Road trip movie, beautiful scenery, in search of peace from the noisy urban city life!
Waiting
Showing Wed 2 Oct 2019 at 18.10
We have Kalki Koechlin again staring against Naseeruddin Shah. Two strangers meet in a hospital waiting room, dealing with their grief and the possibility that they might lose their significant others.
If you’re planning to see more than one film from this season, HOME have multi-buy discounts available, check out the 2019 Not Just Bollywood Season page on the HOME website for more info.
Personally, I think I’ll be booking in to see Lipstick Under My Burkha and Namdev Bhau in Search of Silence.