Little Zizou - Photo by Aparna Jayakumar ©2009

The 2009 edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles held at the Hollywood ArcLight Cinema has come to a close. But not before some of the best and brightest in the Indian film industry were celebrated this past Sunday, during an exciting awards ceremony following the screening of the documentary ‘Yes Madam, Sir’. The film, directed by Megan Doneman, chronicles the nearly daily struggles of Kiran Bedi, the first woman ever admitted into the Indian Police Service. 

In attendance at this stellar evening were Kiran Bedi herself — looking dashing in a black tuxedo suit with Nehru-style collar while conveying her trademark sense of humor and grace; Megan Doneman, a striking blond with an infectious smile and a great attitude; Sooni Taraporevala, the endearing and elegant writer/director of crowd favorite ‘Little Zizou’; the charmingly handsome Rupak Ginn of ‘The Cheetah Girls: One World’ fame and the striking Samrat Chakrabarti, who all weekend successfully juggled the red carpet at IFFLA — for his role in the film ‘Bombay Summer’ about three friends from different backgrounds and with distinct views on life — with the Los Angeles opening of the romantic comedy ‘Kissing Cousins’ in which he stars as Amir, a professional heartbreaker.

The excitement generated earlier this year by that momentous Danny Boyle film about the Bombay slums has clearly made IFFLA the center of the Indian cinematic world it deserves to be, with sold-out screenings of every film in the festival to prove it. While I simply loved everything I managed to watch, among the standouts was the opening night selection ‘The Fakir of Venice’ a touching, from-the-heart film based on the true story of a go-to man Friday who takes a Juhu Beach performer to the Venice Art Biennale, pretending all the while that the entertainer is a spiritual ascetic. With divine performances by filmmaker Farhan Akhtar and the moving Annu Kapoor, the film — directed by Anand Surapur of Phat-Phish Motion Pictures – has already been foreseen as the next crossover hit. I also enjoyed ‘Sikandar’ — about the struggle in Kashmir viewed from the prospective of children who have never known peace in the region; the Anil Kapoor production ‘Gandhi, My Father’ which poses the question of whether a country’s hero should also balance being a good father. And of course, my personal favorite ‘Little Zizou’, a glorious and heartfelt film set in the Parsi community of Bombay — but honestly great proof that our world is much smaller than it seems and our hearts all truly beat as one.

Not surprisingly, ‘Little Zizou’ walked away with the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film, while ‘Supermen of Malegaon’ took the prize in the Documentary category and ‘Kavi’ won as a Short. A respected jury of industry members awarded ‘Sita Sings the Blues’ the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature, ‘Children of the Pyre’ the Best Documentary prize and prized ‘Narmeen’ for Best Short, while bestowing an Honorable Mention to actress Nandita Das’ directorial debut ‘Firaaq’.

The evening ended with a fantastic gala at the nearby Cabana Club in Hollywood. With wonderfully spicy food provided by Chakra Indian Cuisine, excellent wines by Malibu Family Wines and sparkling conversation courtesy of brilliant filmmakers such as Mr. Surapur, Nishikant Kamat — director of the poignant ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ – Shashank Ghosh of the hilarious so-called Curry Western ‘Quick Gun Murugan’, Ms. Taraporevala, Ms. Doneman and many, many others too plentiful to mention, the night was a runaway success.

I will leave you with the insightful words of IFFLA Festival Director Christina Marouda, a most generous host, ever-ready to thank her staff and volunteers for their invaluable help: “This film festival has been a pivotal one in celebrating the impressive diversity of filmmaking styles and vision from both well known Indian filmmakers and new cinematic voices emerging in the Indian filmmaking community. And the award winners only highlighted that fact. IFFLA also took another important step in establishing itself as a key annual event for the Hollywood and Indian entertainment business community to come together and collaborate.”  

The festival may be over, but the spirit of the films and the courage of the filmmakers live on in my heart.