When Fall rolls around, I begin my own personal countdown to the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival. It is THE festival to watch in NYC if you are in the mood for great films, stellar people-watching and sparkling conversations with the filmmaker! This year the festival begins on its typical high note, with a spectacular star-attended Gala on Wednesday, November 5th, hosted by IAAC Director and Founding Member Aroon Shivdasani, as well as film director Mira Nair and Indian Cinema diva Shabana Azmi.

The opening night selection is filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s “Heaven on Earth”, a poignant look at an arranged marriage gone wrong and the journey it can take a woman on, both geographically and metaphysically. Ms. Mehta’s films include the controversial “Fire” – which was banned in India because of its risqué subject matter – and “Earth”, quite possibly the best film ever made about the effects of 1947 Partition on the people of India and the land known today as Pakistan. With Bollywood superstar Preity Zinta playing the lead role of Chand in “Heaven on Earth” and a story spanning from India to Canada, this promises to be on my list of favorites for the year.

The festival then continues with four more film-filled days and fun nights, through Sunday, November 9th. Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” is featured as the festival’s centerpiece on Saturday and it is a film truly worth catching. A gritty look at Bombay, reality TV, the power of money and how it changes the life of a young man – not to mention the world around him – the film unveils stellar performance by Dev Patel of Brit TV series “Skins” fame, Indian Cinema’s golden star Irrfan Khan and the ever-popular and dashingly handsome Anil Kapoor.

During the festival, there will also be an opportunity to view Liz Mermin’s latest film “Shot in Bombay” – a documentary about the filming of a Bollywood production – AND the star-studded movie it actually documented, “Shootout at Lokhandwala” by Apoorva Lakhia, which makes the experience complete, a bit surreal and quite spectacular. Other wonderful gems to watch include “Pancham Unmixed”, an absolutely brilliant documentary about R.D. Burman - the Hindi film music composer responsible for some of those songs you may hum without even knowing what they are – Ketan Mehta’s latest “Rang Rasiya” and film festival favorite “Amal”, directed by Richie Mehta, a fable-like tale taking place in chaotic Delhi, from the point of view of an autorickshaw driver.

If you are still wondering where I’ll be this whole week, well… look no further than the front row of the various MIAAC venues all around town. See you at the movies!

Top image courtesy of Iaac.us