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In conversation with the geniuses behind ‘Farah Goes Bang’ (Part 1)

By |July 3rd, 2013|Awards, Brown Hollywood, Film Festivals, Interviews, movies we loved, Tribeca Film Festival, upcoming movies|

A while back, I had the distinct pleasure of catching up with the lovely ladies behind the Tribeca sensation, "Farah Goes Bang." Writer/Director Meera Menon and Writer/Producer Laura Goode shed light on women in film, brown people, virginity and even carnivals during our discussion.  I was hoping to put the entire interview in one post, but I think we had too much fun talking for close to an hour. I also thought 3,000 words in one page would be overkill. So I'm going to ease you all into this fantastic conversation. Part one reveals how Laura and Meera came together [...]

Confessions from Brown Hollywood with Faroukh Virani (Director of the upcoming film ‘Vimana’)

By |May 31st, 2013|Brown Hollywood, crowdfunding, Interviews, upcoming movies|

A little over a month ago, I had the chance to talk with USC film student Faroukh Virani, the director of the recently Kickstarted Indian science fiction film "Vimana." The movie, which is tentatively scheduled for an early 2014 release, is Virani's thesis project. Here is the synopsis from the Kickstarter page: "Vimana" is a film about three Indian astronauts who are a product of India's ambitious new deep-space program. Set in the near future, the astronauts are on a one-way trip to a distant planet, Gliese. Unfortunately, the ship's captain, Rishi, passes away after an adverse reaction to the [...]

Tribeca Review: ‘Farah Goes Bang’

By |May 20th, 2013|Awards, Brown Hollywood, Film Festivals, movies we loved, reviews, Tribeca Film Festival, upcoming movies|

I have a confession to make. I've struggled a lot with this review. Not because my reaction to Meera Menon's feature debut was inconclusive. Quite the contrary. I knew I loved this movie the second the credits started rolling. In fact, I think I actually like it too much. As a result I refrained from writing about it for a long time. Maybe I thought I had too much to say, not enough to say or just not the right things to say. Either way, I've floundered long enough. Kandis Erickson, Nikohl Boosheri and Kiran Deol in "Farah Goes [...]

Tribeca Review: ‘The Patience Stone’

By |May 8th, 2013|Film Festivals, reviews, Tribeca Film Festival, upcoming movies|

"The Patience Stone", originally a novel by Afghan director Atiq Rahimi, tells the story of a Muslim woman taking care of her husband who was put into a coma after being shot in the neck. He can't move or speak and his wife slowly becomes overwhelmed as she takes care of him, her children and also deals with everyday life in a war torn region. Eventually, she starts spilling out secrets of her past. Memories she has never spoken of before. The film itself, a revelation. There is little to no action or violence depicted on screen but the tension is never [...]

Confessions from Brown Hollywood with Kiran Deol

By |May 2nd, 2013|Awards, Brown Hollywood, Film Festivals, Interviews, movies we loved, Tribeca Film Festival, Uncategorized, upcoming movies|

Last week I had the chance to sit down with the lovely and hilarious Kiran Deol during the Tribeca Film Festival. Deol plays the role of Roopa Raj in Meera Menon's award-winning film "Farah Goes Bang." In addition to being an actress who has appeared on shows like "Modern Family" and "Weeds", she also directed and developed an Emmy-nominated documentary called "Woman Rebel." If that wasn't enough, she's also a really funny stand-up comedian. Kiran Deol plays Roopa in "Farah Goes Bang" IIF: Tell me about how you got involved with this movie, "Farah Goes Bang." Deol: They released [...]

‘Farah Goes Bang’ director Meera Menon wins Nora Ephron Award at Tribeca

By |April 25th, 2013|Awards, Brown Hollywood, Film Festivals, movies we loved, Tribeca Film Festival, upcoming movies|

The first time is definitely the charm for Meera Menon as she received the 1st Annual Nora Ephron Award at the Tribeca Film Festival this morning for her feature debut "Farah Goes Bang." Kate French, Nikohl Boosheri and Kiran Deol in 'Farah Goes Bang'© Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival Menon received the award this morning from TFF co-founder Jane Rosenthal and Vogue creative digital director, Sally Singer, according to a press release. Menon was selected among several other female directors at this year's festival and received $25,000 with the award. “We're thrilled to highlight Meera's work with this special award. We [...]

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” Review

By |April 23rd, 2013|Film Festivals, movies we loved, NYIFF, reviews, Tribeca Film Festival, upcoming movies|

Mira Nair's latest project "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" is not her best film. But it could be her most important. The story (based on the Moshin Hamid novel of the same name) speaks to the nature of perception between East and West in a world forever changed by 9/11. While most films surrounding a post 9/11 world tend to favor the Western point of view, this film's main character is a young Pakistani professor named Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed). The story is told in flashbacks as Changez is being interviewed by an American reporter named Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber) in Lahore following the [...]

‘Beyond All Boundaries’, ‘Miss Lovely’ and others take home top honors at IFFLA

By |April 15th, 2013|Awards, Brown Hollywood, crowdfunding, Film Festivals, upcoming movies|

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles announced their big winners Sunday and films like "Beyond All Boundaries" and "Miss Lovely" came away with some top awards. http://youtu.be/uSibAMDGYkc "Beyond All Boundaries" (by filmmaker Sushrut Jain) follows the stories of three Indians – a penniless superfan, a boy prodigy, and a girl cricketer during the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Jain crowdfunded some of the project on Kickstarter a couple of months ago and IIF had a chance to interview him about his work. Check that out right here. The film took home the Jury and Audience Award for Best Documentary. "Miss Lovely" (directed [...]

A discussion with Sushrut Jain, the filmmaker of “Beyond All Boundaries”

By |February 22nd, 2013|Brown Hollywood, Film Festivals, Interviews, upcoming movies|

A documentary set during the 2011 World Cup called "Beyond All Boundaries" is officially funded. IIF promoted the project, which was seeking crowd-funding on Kickstarter, two days ago in hopes of seeing it reach the $45,000 goal necessary to move forward. Now that it's over, IIF got a chance to sit down with director Sushrut Jain to discuss the documentary, which is also being presented by the Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar. The film is set to premiere at a popular film festival in Los Angeles the first week of April. http://youtu.be/uSibAMDGYkc IIF: So you must be a huge cricket fan to [...]

Beyond All Boundaries – presented by Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar

By |February 19th, 2013|Brown Hollywood, movies we loved, upcoming movies|

I'm surprised there are not more films made out of India with cricket as the backdrop. I'm even more surprised that this project on Kickstarter is not closer to it's goal of $45,000. This documentary in the making needs our help to become a reality The project is a documentary called "Beyond All Boundaries" by filmmaker Sushrut Jain. It follows the stories of three Indians - a penniless superfan, a boy prodigy, and a girl cricketer during the 2011 Cricket World Cup (The year India won in dramatic finish you might remember). The trailer looks great and it is personally [...]

Confessions from Brown Hollywood with Eliyas Qureshi

By |February 13th, 2013|Brown Hollywood, Interviews, upcoming movies|

India Independent Films presents the first part of an ongoing series called "Confessions from Brown Hollywood" where we discuss the challenges of being a South Asian actor in Hollywood. The first part of this series features actor Eliyas Qureshi from shows like "The Good Wife", "30 Rock", "Bored to Death" and much more. He can next be seen on the new conspiracy drama "Zero Hour", which premieres tomorrow night at 8 p.m. on ABC. We had a great chat about the realities of being a South Asian in Hollywood and where the industry is going. http://youtu.be/nZUn6f_2PyM

Humara Movie presents the 2013 Wassup Andheri Film Festival

By |February 13th, 2013|Film Festivals, Humara Movie, movies we loved, upcoming movies|

Humara Movie studios will be kicking off their second annual Wassup Andheri Film Festival this month. Last year's festival got quite a lot of buzz for the studio's unique approach towards fostering the growth of unknown filmmakers in India. http://youtu.be/-STEwuDnX1w The premise is unique. Ten shortlisted candidates will be given a topic for making a film. Those ten filmmakers will be broken up into two groups and mentored by two leading directors in Indian cinema. Last year, the topic was "The girl and the autorickshaw" and the candidates were guided by Imtiaz Ali and Anurag Kashyap. You can catch all [...]

SAIFF 2012 Award Winners

By |November 20th, 2012|Awards, movies we loved, reviews, SAIFF 2012, TIFF, upcoming movies|

The South Asian International Film Festival concluded Saturday night after a two week layoff thanks to Hurricane Sandy. "This was a historic year for us and the city. Besides introducing some amazing films and doing the Rising Star Film Awards, we also got hit with a storm," Shilen Amin, SAIFF's President and Founder, said. "So many of the films that we wanted to show did not make it to  the screen but we were able to make up our closing night at least." The festival award winners were also officially announced Saturday night. Check out the winners below and the [...]

SAIFF 2012 closes today with “Valley of Saints”

By |November 17th, 2012|Awards, SAIFF 2012, upcoming movies|

After the destruction of Hurricane Sandy postponed part of the South Asian International Film Festival a few weeks ago, the closing night is finally upon us. Tickets can be purchased at www.saiff.org for tonight's event which includes an awards ceremony and the New York Premiere of "Valley of Saints", the feature length debut of director Musa Syeed. The movie already won the the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. For more information please click on the banner below. Half of all ticket proceeds will go to benefit The American Red Cross.  

“Greater Elephant” Review

By |October 23rd, 2012|movies we loved, reviews, upcoming movies|

The following review was done by Dr. Prabhu Jha, an expert on English literature and storytelling in general. His short stories have been published in the literary magazine "Ink" and he runs a blog called Ephemeral Insights. "Greater Elephant", recently premiered in Pune, is a delightful movie, which defies any attempts to label it. Some people might call it a comedy, bordering on the farcical. However, the label of a farcical comedy flies in the face of a very well-done and subtle search for something deeper. And we’re back to square one! In fact, we’re back to a Mahout, who [...]

In Conversation with Srinivas Sunderrajan, director of “Greater Elephant”

By |October 19th, 2012|Interviews, upcoming movies|

Almost a year after the film won the Jury Award at the 2011 South Asian International Film Festival, "Greater Elephant" is finally getting it's first release in India today. The movie, produced by Enter Guerilla Films and Humara Movie Productions, debuts in Pune today through PVR Cinemas. The film had quite a unique journey to the silver screens. IIF discussed that journey, as well as the state of the independent industry in India with the film's director, Srinivas Sunderrajan. Check out the first edition of India Independent Films' "In Conversation" series below: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVcb5KQsbUQ Stay tuned for more coverage about "Greater [...]

THR profiles “Ship of Theseus”

By |September 8th, 2012|movies we loved, TIFF, upcoming movies|

Anand Gandhi's "Ship of Theseus" is one of the 10 Indian films showcased in this years City to City Program at the Toronto International Film Festival. Nyay Bhushan discusses the film and Gandhi's aspirations in a terrific interview for The Hollywood Reporter. The interview reveals an out of the box mind in Gandhi, especially when he starts talking about the human body. A way of thinking he wants to pose his audience with his new film: The film came about when I was nursing my grandmother and I was surrounded by death and disease. The film began as a question [...]

Mumbai Meets Toronto

By |September 8th, 2012|movies we loved, TIFF, upcoming movies|

If ever there was evidence of Indian independent films making waves on a global scale, it’s at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). There are 10 films from India showing at the Canadian festival and all of them are getting some great recognition. In fact, Mumbai has been selected as the showcase in this year’s City to City Program. The Huffington Post highlights the importance of the program and the films being presented: This is the fourth edition of the Festival's City to City program, which has featured a different international filmmaking locale every year. The past three years [...]


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