NYIFF

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Manoj Bajpayee’s ‘Aligarh’ on New York Indian Film Fest Lineup

Director Hansal Mehta’s “Aligarh,” a biographical drama starring Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao in the lead roles,
will be the closing film at the 16th annual New York Indian Film Festival to be held May 7- May 14 at
the Skirball Center for Performing Arts in New York City, New York. (NYIFF photo)

Hansal Mehta’s “Aligarh” starring Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao in the lead roles is just one of the 40 films (35 narrative, 5 documentary) that will be screened at the 16th annual New York Indian Film Festival. The festival, which is presented by the Indo-American Arts Council, will run from May 7-14 at the Skirball Center for Performing Arts in New York City, New York.

Regional-language films — in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telegu, Assamese, Haryanavi and Urdu, all with English subtitles — will also be showcased, notably the Tamil film, “Crime Is Punishment,” the latest from NYIFF alum and 2015 NYIFF award winner M. Manikandan.

This year’s festival will feature a couple of sidebars — NFDC restored the first films of filmmakers and a three-generation sidebar, films of Bimal Roy, Basu Bhattacharya and Aditya Bhattacharya.
The opening night film will be “Nachom-ia-Kumpasar (Let’s Dance to the Rhythm),” directed by Bardroy Barretto.

The festival’s film lineup includes 2016 National Award winners: English/Hindi film “A Far Afternoon-A painted saga by Krishen Khanna”; Malayalam film “Birds with Large Wings;” and “The River of Fables” (Kothanodi), an Assamese feature film written and directed by Bhaskar Hazarika starring Seema Biswas and Adil Hussain.

“The 2016 festival features a wide array of films from all over the South Asian diaspora,” IAAC founder Aroon Shivdasani said in a statement. “This year our films reflect the reality of India, dealing both with LGBT issues that have surfaced in the Supreme Court and on the streets, as well as strong feminist films dealing with female infanticide, child marriage, domestic abuse, trafficking and several other key issues that affect women in a world that still leans towards chauvinism.”

“Kagaz Ki Kashti,” which traces the life journey of ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, will have its world premiere at the festival. Indian teenage comedy “Brahman Naman”; “For the Love of a Man,” a documentary exploring the popularity of Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth; and “Good Ol’ Boy,” a feel-good, coming-of-age story featuring actors Samrat Chakrabarti (“Midnight’s Children”) and Poorna Jagannathan (“Delhi Belly,” “Nirbhaya”) are some of the other films that have found a place in the lineup.

Other highlights of the festival include Leena Yadav’s “Parched,” “Moh Maya Money” starring Ranvir Shorey and Neha Dhupia, and Anu Menon’s “Waiting” with Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin in the lead.

Among the celebrities and guests that will grace the red carpet and cocktails event May 7 are Aparna Sen, Salman Rushdie, Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Arun Singh, UN Ambassador Vijay Nambiar, Madhur Jaffrey, Aasif Mandvi, Paul Williams, Tracey Jackson, Umesh Kulkarni, Suketu Mehta, Hansal Mehta, Sakina Jaffrey, Sarita Choudhury, Kalki Koechlin, Ayad Akhtar, Muzaffar Ali, Nasseredin Shah, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj and Aditya Basu Bhattacharya.

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