NEW DELHI -- The 11th New York Indian Film Festival will open with Walt Disney India's first Hindi live action feature, Do Dooni Chaar (Two Times Two Is Four) and close with Bengali film Noukadabi.
Organized by the Indo-American Arts Council, the festival runs May 4-8 in Manhattan.
Directed by Habib Faisal, Do Dooni Chaar released last winter and was well-received, starring well-known veteran actors and real-life couple Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh as the heads of a middle class Delhi family struggling to buy their first car. Faisal, Singh and Kapoor are expected to attend the film's red carpet premiere at New York City's Paris Theatre followed by a gala benefit dinner at the Jumeirah Essex House.
“Do Dooni Chaar is a charming and sweet indie film that reflects the realities of a middle-class family in modern day Delhi,” said NYIFF director Aseem Chhabra in a statement. “It is a great example of India's new emerging cinema that has an indie soul, but working within the framework of Bollywood.”
The festival's closing night selection is Bengali director Rituparno Ghosh’s Noukadubi, an adaptation of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s acclaimed novel, which stars sisters Riya and Raima Sen. Following the May 8 screening at the Asia Society will be a special tribute to Tagore, who was born 150 years ago on that day, followed by the festival's awards ceremony.
Another Bengali film by director Aparna Sen, Iti Mrinalini, will premiere as the festival's Centerpiece selection at the Tribeca Cinema. The Bengali film features Sen and her daughter, award-winning actress Konkona Sen Sharma, both playing the same title role at different ages.
“The three film highlights of our eleventh annual film festival represent a Hollywood studio’s Indian social cinema, independent cinema, as well as a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore,” added Indo-American Arts Council executive director Aroon Shivdasani.
Created in 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York City, the IAAC's film festival was started to create a better understanding of the people and stories from the Indian subcontinent by showcasing acclaimed feature films, shorts, and documentaries from that region and its diaspora.
