“Yes, Yes and Yes” I replied when Chitra emailed me if wanted to go an Indian film festival. Chitra and Anil had introduced me to Bollywood, Mollywood and Tollywood and I keep asking them how many other _ollywoods their country produces.
The festival was a tribute to the actress of Jaya Bachchan
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0080149
Although I hadn’t heard of her, I quickly realised that she has status of a Meryl Steep or a Susan Sarandon by the way the audience held her in awe. She was there, gracious, elegant, giving. She answered questions from the audience between films and during the dinner break my hostess and daughter were able to eat with her, which left them both thrilled.
The first film was plotted similar to A Star is Born and made when she was young with her soon-to-be husband who came to be according to some surveys the best known actor in the world http://imdb.com/name/nm0000821 although I hadn’t heard of him. He was named Actor of the Millennium in a BBC News Poll ahead of such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Sir Lawrence Olivier, and Marlon Brando. He is currently hosting the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. (Learning about things I don’t know when I consider myself a well informed-international is good for keeping me humble.)
The second was done more recently, and called The Mother of 1084. An upper middle-class woman learns her son was killed a revolution. His toe tag is 1084. Painful to watch – a film that can be appreciated on levels from political to artistic.
I expected to enjoy the weekend. I expected to enjoy the festival. The only surprise was how much
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