The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announced today the Opening and Closing red carpet galas. Opening the festival on April 8th is the world premiere of “Haraamkhor,” written and directed by Shlok Sharma and starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Nagesh Kukunoor’s award-winning “Dhanak” (“Rainbow”) will close the festival with its US premiere. Sharma and Kukunoor will be in attendance along with the star and producer of “Haraamkhor” – Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Guneet Monga.
Tickets to the galas are now available on www.indianfilmfestival.org. The full line-up will be announced on March 10th. The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema. Celebrating its 13th year, IFFLA will run April 8-12 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception.
Shlok Sharma’s riveting feature debut, “Haraamkhor,” is produced by India’s most prominent producers, Anurag Kashyap (“Gangs of Wasseypur,” “Ugly,” “Bombay Velvet”) and Guneet Monga (“The Lunchbox,” “Gangs of Wasseypur”). Monga was honored at IFFLA in 2013 with the Industry Leadership Award. Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui (“Gangs of Wasseypur,” “The Lunchbox,” “Miss Lovely”) in a masterful performance as a teacher having an illicit affair with one of his students, “Haraamkhor,” explores innocent young love that is put on a collision course with the messy reality of budding adulthood.
“We’re thrilled to kick off our 13th edition with the world premiere of “Haraamkhor.” Shlok’s film resonates to something we all can understand- the beautiful complications of youth. It invigorates us to have a filmmaker return to IFFLA, and especially so when their first feature is as powerful as this,” said IFFLA’s Artistic Director, Jasmine Jaisinghani.
Fresh from his award-winning premiere at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival, Nagesh Kukunoor arrives at IFFLA with “Dhanak.” The gorgeous tale of a brother and sister who embark on a journey across Rajasthan in an attempt to meet the great Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, “Dhanak” is filled with color, magic and music in a celebration of childhood and family.
“I have been a longtime fan of Nagesh’s work and look forward to welcoming him back to IFFLA,” said festival Founder/Chair Christina Marouda. “Dhanak” is a stunning film – infectious in its joyous spirit and appreciation for the beauty that surrounds us. We can’t wait to share it with the IFFLA audiences, who I know will be just as charmed as we were.”
For both filmmakers, their screenings at IFFLA will be a homecoming. Shlok has had two short films in the festival, one of which – “Tubelight’s Moon” (“Ka Chand”) – won the Audience Award in 2011. Nagesh Kukunoor’s “3 Deewarein” (“3 Walls”) played at the inaugural year of the festival in 2003.
Nirvana-Bombay Palace will host the Opening and Closing Night Gala receptions in Beverly Hills.
Tickets and Passes
The 13th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) runs April 8-12 at ArcLight Hollywood, located at 6360 W. Sunset Blvd between Vine and Ivar. Festival Passes and Gala tickets are now on sale at www.indianfilmfestival.org. Individual screening tickets go on sale March 20th.
For more information, please visit www.indianfilmfestival.org or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/indianfilmfestival), Twitter (@iffla) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/indianfilmfestival).
OPENING NIGHT GALA
“Haraamkhor” (“The Wretched”)
India/2015/90min/DCP/Hindi
WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Shlok Sharma
Producer: Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap
Screenwriter: Shlok Sharma
Cinematographer: Siddharth Diwan
Editor: Kratika Adhikari
Composers: Vishal Khurana, Karan Gour
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shweta Tripathi, Harish Khanna
Innocent young love is put on a collision course with the messy reality of budding adulthood in Shlok Sharma’s unforgettable feature debut. Young student Kamal is infatuated with his 15-year-old classmate Sandhya, and together with his best friend Mintu devises countless imaginative schemes to win her affection. But Sandhya has a troubling infatuation of her own: she is carrying on an affair with her teacher, Shyam (another masterful performance by Nawazuddin Siddiqui). When the two young boys catch on to this illicit arrangement, events are set into motion that could lead to tragedy for all involved.
Shlok Sharma deftly alternates the tone of his film between lighthearted, youthful adventure and more sobering, truthful moments. Sharply aware of the fact that childhood longings rarely come to fruition, Sharma watches sympathetically as each of his four central characters stumble and falter in their attempts to hold onto a desire they’d be better off forgetting, while the audience braces for impact when the inevitable crash comes.
CLOSING NIGHT GALA
“Dhanak” (“Rainbow”)
India/2015/103min/Hindi
US PREMIERE
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Producer: Manish Mundra, Nagesh Kukunoor, Elahe Hiptoola
Screenwriter: Nagesh Kukunoor
Cinematographer: Chirantan Das
Editor: Sanjib Datta
Composer: Tapas Relia
Cast: Krrish Chhabria, Hetal Gada, Gulfam Khan, Vipin Sharma, Suresh Menon, Chet Dixon, Fllora Saini, Vijay Maurya, Vibha Chhibber, Rajiv Laxman
Fresh from his award-winning premiere at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival, Nagesh Kukunoor arrives at IFFLA with this stunning tale of a brother and sister who embark on a journey across Rajasthan in an attempt to meet the great Shah Rukh Khan. Pari is the responsible older sister to Chotu, a high-spirited blind boy on the brink of his ninth birthday. Chotu wants nothing more than to have his vision back and Pari — inspired by a message she sees on a Shah Rukh Khan poster — promises him he’ll get it before his birthday arrives. When the two learn that Shah Rukh Khan is filming only a few hundred kilometers from their village, they sneak away from home and set out to meet the superstar.
What follows is a trek full of side-splitting banter and bickering between the two remarkable children, vibrant colors, lively music, new friendships, and harrowing danger. Kukunoor’s two young leads embody the adventurous spirit that comes with growing up and taking your fate into your own hands for the first time. He has crafted an utterly gorgeous film around one simple wish, and ultimately delivers a disarming, heartfelt plea to recognize and appreciate the beauty that exists all around us.
