New York Indian Film Festival offers array of feature lengths, shorts, and documentaries

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Includes special event ‘Celebrating 50 Years of Shabana Azmi in Cinema’

Publicity photos from NYIFF

The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), North America’s oldest and highly-anticipated event will run from May 31-June 2, 2024, offering cinema from the global Indian community and a special event on Shabana Azmi. Ticket prices are $15 for regular film programs and $50 for opening and closing films. Tickets for the special event with Shabana Azmi are $30. Tickets are on sale at nyiff.us.

Above and below, scenes from films that will be screened at this year’s NYIFF. PHOTOS provided by NYIFF

The NYIFF announced the full line-up for this 24th edition, featuring films that showcase the depth and range of contemporary Indian cinema, including cutting-edge dramas, documentaries, and shorts, some that premiered at Cannes Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, a press release from NYIFF said. All films will screen at Village East by Angelika, 181 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003.

The year 2024 marks 50 years of Shabana Azmi in Indian and International Cinema. To celebrate the landmark anniversary the multiple award-winning actress will attend this year’s NYIFF. The special event will include the screening of Azmi’s 1996 film “Fire,” directed by Deepa Mehta. This will be followed with a conversation between Azmi and filmmaker Mira Nair.

Poster for one of the Shorts at NYIFF. PHOTO: provided by NYIFF
“I have been associated with the New York Indian Film Festival since its inception and I am heartened by the progress it has made over the years in leaps and bounds. I am happy that my 50th year is being celebrated at the NYIFF and I look forward to it,” Azmi is quoted saying in the press release.
“NYIFF is a must-watch event for anyone interested in Indian cinema and its growing impact on global cinema. It offers a unique opportunity to explore and appreciate the diverse cinematic voices emerging from India today,” said Dr. Nirmal Mattoo, chairman of the Indo-American Arts Council, the organization that presents the film festival.

Several other well-known Indian film personalities will be featured in a wide array of works:

  • Opening Film “Dear Jassi” is directed by celebrated Indian American filmmaker Tarsem Singh, who has made films with Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts. Plus he has directed videos for music legends like the bands R.E.M. and Lady Gaga.
  • Closing Film “Mrs.” stars Bollywood actress Sanya Malhotra.
  • Amitabh Bachchan, Vivek Gomber (“Court” and “Sir”), classical dancer and actress Leela Samson (“O Kadhal Kanmani”) and Adil Hussain (“Life of Pi”) star in filmmaker Pooja Kaul’s debut film “The Umesh Chronicles.”
  • Rajshri Deshpande (Netflix show “Trial by Fire” and “Angry Indian Goddesses”) plays the lead in “Privacy.”
  • Roshan Mathew (“Moothon,” “Darlings” and the recent Amazon Prime show “Poacher”) and Darshana Rajendran (“Koode” and “C U Soon”) star in the Sri Lankan drama “Paradise” directed by Prasanna Vithanage and presented by Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies.
  • Tannishtha Chatterjee (“Brick Lane” and “Angry Indian Goddesses”) plays the lead in American filmmaker Wendy Bednarz’s debut film “Yellow Bus.”
  • Last year’s best director winner Avinash Arun (“Three of Us”) returns with a stunning short film “Monsoon Walk.”
  • Two times NYIFF best film winner Umesh Kulkarni (“Highway Ek Selfie Arpar,” 2016) and “Vihir,” 2010) brings a short film this year “U=Me.” The film stars Arjun Radhakrishnan (“Pada,” and the series “Rocket Boys”), Shweta Basu Prasad (“Makdee” and last year’s hit show “Jubilee”) and veteran actor Mohan Agashe (“Astu” and “Kaasav”).
  • Naseeruddin Shah stars in the short film “Khidki.”
  • Geetanjali Kulkarni (“Court” and the series “Gullak”) plays the lead in the short film “Rhino Charge.”
  • Actresses Palomi Ghosh (“Nachom-ia Kumpasar”) and Anjali Patil (“Newton”) star in the short “Identity.”
“We aim to truly underscore the NYIFF commitment to diversity and cultural representation in film,” said NYIFF Festival Director Aseem Chhabra. “This year, we will feature films in 12 languages spoken in India: Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oria, Punjabi, Tamil. Two films also feature Sinhalese and Arabic languages. All films will have English subtitles.”
“I am thrilled to present the lineup for this year’s New York Indian Film Festival. Our selection of films not only epitomizes the artistic brilliance we champion but also mirrors the vibrant narratives we strive to share with our community. This year, the amalgamation of cultural richness, outstanding narratives, and stellar performances is poised to make this edition of the festival unparalleled in its appeal,” said Poonam Khubani IAAC Board Member.
Features (Narrative)

  1. Agra (Hindi), dir. Kanu Behl, 135 mins, 2023,
  2. DAMaN (Odia), dirs. Vishal Mourya and Debiprasad Lenka, 120 min, 2022
  3. Dear Jassi (Punjabi, English), dir. Tarsem Singh, 130 mins, 2023
  4. Dear Latika (Hindi), dir. Kanchan Pant, 104 mins, 2023
  5. Fire (Hindi, English), dir. Deepa Mehta, 104 mins, 1996
  6. Mithya (Kannada, Marathi), dir. Sumanth Bhatt, 97 mins, 2023
  7. Mrs. (Hindi), dir. Arati Kadav, 111 mins, 2024
  8. Padatik (Bengali), dir. Srijit Mukherji, 115 mins, 2023
  9. Paradise (English, Tamil, Sinhalese), dir. Prasanna Vithanage, 93 mins, 2023
  10. Pratikshya (Odia), dir. Anupam Patnaik, 133 mins, 2022
  11. Privacy (Hindi), dir. Sudeep Kanwal, 84 mins, 2023
  12. Sahela (Hindi, Gujarati, English), dir. Raghuvir Joshi, 90 mins, 2023
  13. Sthal (Marathi), dir. Jayant Digambar Somalkar, 104 mins, 2023
  14. Sumo Didi (Hindi), dir. Jayant Rohatgi, 118 mins, 2023
  15. The Scavenger of Dreams (Hindi), dir. Suman Ghosh, 83 mins, 2023
  16. The Umesh Chronicles (English, Kashmiri, Hindi), dir. Pooja Kaul, 124 mins
  17. Three Sons of Narayani (Malayalam), dir. Sharan Venugopal, 108 mins, 2023
  18. Yellow Bus (English, Hindi, Arabic), dir. Wendy Bednarz, 109 mins, 2023
Features (Documentaries)

  1. Merchant Ivory (English), dir. Stephen Soucy, 112 mins, 2023
  2. Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen (English, Bengali), dir. Suman Ghosh, 96 mins, 2023
  3. The House of Baruas (Assamese, English), dir. Utpal Borpujari, 71 mins, 2023
  4. The World is Family (English), dir. Anand Patwardhan, 96 mins, 2023
  5. Zende (English, Hindi, Marathi), dir. Akshay Shah, 65 mins, 2023
Shorts (Narrative)

  1. A lullaby for yellow roses (Hindi), dir. Rahul Roye, 18 mins, 2023
  2. Anu (Hindi, English, Maori), dir. Pulkit Arora, 13 mins, 2023
  3. Chor (Hindi), dir. Ayush Anita Sharma, 13 mins, 2023
  4. Chunaav (Hindi), dir. Avinash Shriram Shembatwad, 11 mins, 2023
  5. Crown (Hindi), dir. Krishav Payyade, 7 Mins, 2023
  6. Dosh (English, Hindi), dir. Radha Mehta, 16 mins, 2023
  7. Full and Final (Hindi), dir. Sohit Khanna, 16 mins, 2023
  8. Identity (Hindi), dir. Suraj Gunjal, 23 mins, 2023
  9. Impasse (Hindi, Tamil), dir. Tuhin Basu, 24 mins, 2021
  10. Khidki (Hindi), dir. Anhad Mishra, 26 mins, 2023
  11. Loo (English, Kannada), dir. Chanakya Vyas, 14 mins, 2023
  12. Monsoon Walk (Marathi), dir. Avinash Arun, 27 mins, 2023
  13. Postcard From Tahiti (English), dir. Nitin Madan, 15 mins, 2023
  14. Rhino Charge (Bengali), dir. Abhiroop Basu, 25 mins, 2024
  15. Samay Ki Baazi (English), dir. Anil & Vel, 6 mins, 2023
  16. Solution (Hindi), dir. Lakshit Koushal, 14 mins, 2023
  17. Starch (Tamil, English), dir. Ajai Vishwanath, 16 mins, 2023
  18. Stitched (English, Hindi, Tamil), dir. Lorena Lourenco, 16 mins, 2023
  19. U=Me (Hindi), dir. Umesh Kulkarni, 27 mins, 2024
  20. What Just Happened (Hindi), dir. Arunash Bhatt, 20 mins, 2023
  21. XO (Bengali, English, Hindi), dir. Samrat DasGupta, 25 mins, 2023
Shorts (Documentaries)

  1. Gotho – A Shelter (Marathi), dir. Sainath Uskaikar, 12 mins, 2023
  2. In the Wake of the Current (English), dir. Étienne, 64 mins, 2024
  3. Occupied (English, Arabic), dir. Pranav Pingle, 23 mins, 2018
  4. Tam-Bram Cooking (Tamil English), dirs. Sraiyanti Haricharan, Prem Akkatoos, 10 mins, 2023
  5. The Color Yellow (Bengali, English), dir. Modhurima Sinha, 27 mins, 2023
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