The work of a new generation of Bollywood filmmakers, including the top three Bollywood films worldwide from 2007, will feature in a two-week Bollywood Film Festival at Cinema Nouveau in July. The films tackle topical issues such as match-fixing in cricket and horse racing and include the more usual glossy epics. The festival runs from July 4 to 17 at the Rosebank Mall, Brooklyn in Pretoria and Cavendish in Cape Town. Two films are directorial debuts by award-winning actors: Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par and Ajay Devgan’s U Me Aur Hum.
Om Shanti Om is a spoof of 1970s Bollywood films; Saawariya is a love story. Jodhaa Akbar is an epic about the cross-religious love of a Muslim emperor and a Hindu princess, featuring former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and heartthrob Hrithik Roshan; the political thriller Black and White is about Hindu-Muslim strife. Race and Jannat are two films substantially filmed in South Africa, with horse racing and cricket as their respective themes.
Vanaja is a tale of the rise from poverty of a girl who becomes a dancer. For more information on the festival, go to www.sterkinekor.com or by call TicketLine at 082 16789.