London Indian Film Festival 2017 Programme

Edgy, riveting and avant-garde are just some of the terms used to describe line-up for the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival 2017 (LIFF).

Now in its eighth year, the festival has consistently proved itself in its ability to uncover some of the brightest and most talented independent filmmakers in South Asia and bring their films to the UK.

From new features, documentaries and shorts, this year’s festival highlights the incredible creativity and skill of South Asians in the arts. 2017 also marks the third year that the festival will travel to Birmingham. The second city will host a selection of films alongside London, under its new festival name, the Bagri Foundation Birmingham Indian Film Festival.

London Indian Film Festival 2017 is inspired by the UK-India Year of Culture, celebrating the close relationship between the two nations. Empire and the British Raj feature heavily in the festival’s opening night film, The Black Prince.

The historical epic opens London Indian Film Festival 2017 on 22nd June and is based on the real story of the last King of Punjab.

Directed by Kavi Raz, the film stars a stellar cast that includes the Sufi musical icon, Satinder Sartaaj and veteran Indian actress Shabana Azmi. The film trailer was recently showcased at the 70th Cannes Film Festival and the feature will be screened in both London and Birmingham.

Other films to look forward to include Badman, starring the likes of Gulshan Grover, Chunky Pandey, Rishi Kapoor, and Manisha Koirala. The film is a hilarious Bollywood comedy that sees popular villain Grover transform himself into a hero!

London Indian Film Festival 2017 also welcomes crossover film, Babylon Sisters which is set in Italy and follows the story of a young Indian immigrant, Kamala.

The festival will see special guest and acclaimed filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker speak about his film career to date at BFI Southbank. The Indian director is credited with the likes of Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001), Swades (2004), and Jodhaa Akbar (2008).

Sponsors of the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival 2017, DESIblitz.com are also proud to announce that we will be supporting several films this year, in both London and Birmingham. In the capital city, DESIblitz will be supporting a special screening of Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha Akbar as well as Lapachhapi (Hide and Seek), and Gardaab (Whirlpool).

In Birmingham, we are pleased to support the opening night film, The Black Prince and A Billion Colour Story.

Speaking about this year’s incredible line-up, London Indian Film Festival 2017 Director, Cary Rajinder Sawhney says: “We are delighted to bring London audiences a carefully curated selection of the very best new Indian and South Asian independent cinema.

“This year’s selection includes premieres of new comedies, gripping thrillers, shocking horror and insightful true life documentaries as well as bringing together UK previews of major award-winning films from the world’s greatest film festivals.”

Title Sponsor of the London Indian Film Festival 2017, Dr Alka Bagri of the Bagri Foundation adds:

“LIFF continues to offer stimulating talks, bringing together important figures of the LGBTQ+ community, and to propose the timely and critical discussion around the futures of artists and filmmakers in the face of Brexit.”

Here is the full programme of films and activities for the eighth annual London Indian Film Festival 2017:

LONDON

THE BLACK PRINCE (English, Punjabi & Hindi with English subtitles) | OPENING NIGHT | ENGLISH PREMIERE | (15)
Showing: 22 June, 18:00, BFI Southbank
Dir. Kavi Raz with Satinder Sartaaj, Jason Flemyng, Shabana Azmi, Amanda Root, Ameet Chana, David Essex

ASHUTOSH GOWARIKER IN CONVERSATION | 23 JUNE
Acclaimed director of Indian commercial cinema, Ashutosh Gowariker will reflect on his incredible career that includes films such as Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001), Swades (2004) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008) at BFI Southbank

JODHAA AKBAR (Hindi & Urdu with English subtitles) | (U)
Showing: 25 June, 11:30, BFI Southbank
Dir. Ashutosh Gowariker with Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai
* supported by DESIblitz.com

BABYLON SISTERS (Italian & Hindi with English subtitles) | (12A)
Showing: 23 June, 18:10, BFI Southbank | 24 June, 18:30, Crouch End Picturehouse
Dir. Gigi Roccati with Amber Dutta, Rahul Dutta, Nav Ghotra, Renato Carpentieri

THE CINEMA TRAVELLERS (Hindi & Marathi with English subtitles) | LONDON PREMIERE | (15)
Showing: 23 June, 20:40, BFI Southbank | 24 June, 18:00, Science Museum | 25 June, 18:00, Picturehouse Central
Dir. Shirley Abraham & Amit Madheshiya

LAPACHHAPI (HIDE AND SEEK) (Marathi with English subtitles) | (15)
Showing: 23 June, 22:00, Picturehouse Central | 24 June, 20:00, Cineworld Wandsworth
Dir. Vishal Furia with Pooja Sawant, Usha Naik, Vikram Gaikwad
* supported by DESIblitz.com

ONDU MOTTEYA KATHE (EGGHEAD) (Kannada with English subtitles) | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 24 June, 18:00, Cineworld Wandsworth | 25 June, 19:30, Cineworld Wembley
Dir. Raj B Shetty with Raj B Shetty, Amrutha Naik, Shreya Anchan

BADMAN (Hindi with English subtitles) | ENGLISH PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 24 June, 18:00, Cineworld Wembley | 25 June, 15:00, Cineworld Leicester Square | 27 June, 18:30, Stratford Picturehouse
Dir. Soumik Sen with Gulshan Grover, Chunky Pandey, Rishi Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Farah Khan

NEWTON (Hindi with English subtitles) | ENGLISH PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 24 June, 18:10, BFI Southbank | 25 June, 17:00, Cineworld Wembley
Dir. Amit Masurkar with Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathy, Anjali Patil

TICKET – THE MOVIE (Tamil with English subtitles) | WORLD PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 24 June, 20:30, Cineworld Wembley | 25 June, 12:30, Cineworld Leicester Square
Dir. Raaghav Ranganathan with Raaghav Ranganathan, Karthik Kumar, Lakshmipriyaa Chandramouli, Sanam Shetty

BRIDGE (Bengali with English subtitles) | LONDON PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 24 June, 20:45, BFI Southbank | 25 June, 18:30, Crouch End Picturehouse
Dir. Amit Ranjan Biswas with Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Mridul

PINNEYUM (ONCE AGAIN) (Malayalam with English subtitles) | UK PREMIERE | (15)
Showing: 25 June, 16:00, BFI Southbank | 27 June, 19:00, Cineworld Wandsworth
Dir. Adoor Gopalakrishnan with Dileep, Kavya Madhavan, Subodh Bhave, Nedumudi Venu

ZIKR US PARIVASH KA (IN PRAISE OF THAT ANGEL FACE) (Hindi & Urdu with English subtitles) | INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE | (U)
Showing: 25 June, 16:00, Crouch End Picturehouse | 27 June, 19:00, Cineworld Wembley
Dir. Nirmal Chander Dandriyal with Raaghav Yatindra Mishra, Saleem Kidwai, Shruti Sadolikar Katkar

OVERTONE (Tamil with English subtitles) | (U)
Showing: 25 June, 16:00, Crouch End Picturehouse | 27 June, 19:00, Cineworld Wembley
Dir. Rajiv Menon with Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman

GARDAAB (WHIRLPOOL) (Urdu with English subtitles) | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 25 June, 18:00, Stratford Picturehouse | 27 June, 18:30, Cineworld Leicester Square
Dir. Harune Massey with Amna Ilyas, Fawad Khan, Gohar Rasheed
* supported by DESIblitz.com

SETO SURYA (WHITE SUN) (Nepali with English subtitles) | LONDON PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 26 June, 18:10, BFI Southbank
Dir. Deepak Rauniyar with Dayahang Rai, Asha Maya Magrati, Rabindra Singh Baniya

A BILLION COLOUR STORY (English, Hindi & Urdu with English subtitles) | (12A)
Showing: 26 June, 18:30, Crouch End Picturehouse | 28 June, 18:30, Cineworld Leicester Square
Dir. N Padmakumar with Gaurav Sharma, Vauka Sunkavalli, Dhruva Padmakumar

THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN (Urdu with English subtitles) | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | (U)
Showing: 27 June, 18:30, London School of Economics
Dir. Suman Ghosh with Amartya Sen, Kaushik Basu

MUKTI BHAWAN (HOTEL SALVATION) (Urdu with English subtitles) | UK PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 27 June, 20:30, BFI Southbank | 28 June, 18:30, Picturehouse Central
Dir. Shubhashish Bhutiani with Adil Hussain, Lalit Behl, Geetanjali Kulkarni

HALF TICKET (Marathi with English subtitles) | EDUCATION SCREENING | (PG)
Showing: 28 June, 10:00, BFI Southbank
Dir. Samit Kakkad with Priyanka Bose, Bhalchandra Kadam, Shubham More, Vinayak Potdar

LADY OF THE LAKE (Manipuri with English subtitles) | ENGLISH PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 28 June, 20:30, BFI Southbank
Dir. Haobam Paban Kumar with Ningthoujam Sanatomba, Sagolsam Thambalsang

GURU LOUNGE: VIRTUAL REALITY FROM MUMBAI TO LONDON | 24 & 25 JUNE
Ever wanted to be in an Indian movie? This mixed programme invites visitors to interact with VR technology and immerse themselves in a selection of short films from South Asia. Headsets are available at BFI Southbank

SATYAJIT RAY SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Showing: 25 June, 16:00, Bernie Grant Arts Centre | 28 June, 18.30, Nehru Centre
Shortlisted Films:

• MOUTH OF HELL ~ Dir Samir Mehanovic, 15 mins, Hindi
• MORIOM ~ Dir Francesca Scalisi and Mark Olexa, 12 mins, Bengali
• SISAK ~ Dir Faraz Arif Ansari, 15 mins, No dialogue
• WITH LOVE FROM CALAIS ~ Dir Manjinder Virk, 15 mins, English/Farsi
• THE KILL ~ Dir Anay Tarnekar, 16 mins, Marathi
• PAPA ~ Dir Siddharth Chauhan, 15 mins, Hindi
• KIVAAD (THE DOOR) ~ Dir Anisa Mukerjea Ganguli, 16 mins, Hindi/Bengali

SHAKTI AND THE EARLY WORKS OF PRATIBHA PARMAR | 25 JUNE
Panel discussion with Pratibha Parmar, Poulomi Desai, Co-founder of Shakti, Kim Mulji and Cary Rajinder Sawhney. Together they will discuss the South Asian LGBTQ+ movement and how this has shaped British Asian storytelling at BFI Southbank

BRITISH ASIAN FILMMAKERS AND ARTISTS ON THE EDGE OF BREXIT | 26 JUNE
BFI CEO Amanda Nevill will head a panel discussion at BFI Southbank about the British Asian perspective of Brexit, and what this will mean for arts and diversity

GURU LOUNGE: THE HUNGRY UK/INDIA Co-Production Case Study | 28 JUNE
A discussion of Bornila Chatterjee’s The Hungry, a contemporary reworking of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. Panel includes Adrian Wootton (CEO Film London), Deborah Sathe (Cinestaan Film Company) and Kurban Kassam (Producer and co-writer The Hungry), chaired by Lee Thompson at BFI Southbank

SEXY DURGA (Malayalam with English subtitles) | CLOSING NIGHT | ENGLISH PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 29 June, 18:00, BFI Southbank
Dir. Sanal Kumar Sasidharan with Rajshri Deshpande, Kannan Nayar, Vishnu Vedh

Birmingham

THE BLACK PRINCE (English, Punjabi & Hindi with English subtitles) | OPENING NIGHT | BIRMINGHAM PREMIERE | (15)
Showing: 23 June, 18:00, Cineworld Broad Street
Dir. Kavi Raz with Satinder Sartaaj, Jason Flemyng, Shabana Azmi, Amanda Root, Ameet Chana, David Essex
* supported by DESIblitz.com

CANCELLED – ASHUTOSH GOWARIKER IN CONVERSATION | 24 JUNE 
Acclaimed director of Indian commercial cinema, Ashutosh Gowariker will reflect on his incredible career that includes films such as Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001), Swades (2004) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008) at Cineworld Broad Street

TICKET – THE MOVIE (Tamil with English subtitles) | (12A)
Showing: 24 June, 20:00, Cineworld Broad Street
Dir. Raaghav Ranganathan with Raaghav Ranganathan, Karthik Kumar, Lakshmipriyaa Chandramouli, Sanam Shetty

BABYLON SISTERS (Italian & Hindi with English subtitles) | (12A)
Showing: 25 June, 14:00, mac Birmingham
Dir. Gigi Roccati with Amber Dutta, Rahul Dutta, Nav Ghotra, Renato Carpentieri

BADMAN (Hindi with English subtitles) | (12A)
Showing: 25 June, 18:00, Cineworld Broad Street
Dir. Soumik Sen with Gulshan Grover, Chunky Pandey, Rishi Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Farah Khan

NEWTON (Hindi with English subtitles) | ENGLISH PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 25 June, 19:00, mac Birmingham
Dir. Amit Masurkar with Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathy, Anjali Patil

A BILLION COLOUR STORY (English, Hindi & Urdu with English subtitles) | (12A)
Showing: 27 June, 20:00, mac Birmingham
Dir. N Padmakumar with  Gaurav Sharma, Vauka Sunkavalli, Dhruva Padmakumar
* supported by DESIblitz.com

ZIKR US PARIVASH KA (IN PRAISE OF THAT ANGEL FACE) (Hindi & Urdu with English subtitles) | INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE | (U)
Showing: 28 June, 19:00, mac Birmingham
Dir. Nirmal Chander Dandriyal with Raaghav Yatindra Mishra, Saleem Kidwai, Shruti Sadolikar Katkar

OVERTONE (Tamil with English subtitles) | (U)
Showing: 28 June, 19:00, mac Birmingham
Dir. Rajiv Menon with Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman

BRIDGE (Bengali with English subtitles) | LONDON PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 28 June, 19:30, The Mockingbird Cinema
Dir. Amit Ranjan Biswas with Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandhya Mridul

LAPACHHAPI (HIDE AND SEEK) (Marathi with English subtitles) | (15)
Showing: 1 July, 20:00, mac Birmingham
Dir. Vishal Furia with Pooja Sawant, Usha Naik, Vikram Gaikwad

ONDU MOTTEYA KATHE (EGGHEAD) (Kannada with English subtitles) | (12A)
Showing: 1 July, 17:45, mac Birmingham
Dir. Raj B Shetty with Raj B Shetty, Amrutha Naik, Shreya Anchan

GARDAAB (WHIRLPOOL) (Urdu with English subtitles) | EUROPEAN PREMIERE | (12A)
Showing: 1 July, 19:00, Cineworld Broad Street
Dir. Harune Massey with Amna Ilyas, Fawad Khan, Gohar Rasheed
* supported by DESIblitz.com

SEXY DURGA (Malayalam with English subtitles) | CLOSING NIGHT | (12A)
Showing: 2 July, 18:00, mac Birmingham
Dir. Sanal Kumar Sasidharan with Rajshri Deshpande, Kannan Nayar, Vishnu Vedh

Closing the London Indian Film Festival 2017 is the Malayalam thriller, Sexy Durga. The surreal road movie follows a hitchhiking couple who end up taking a ride with a car full of gangsters!

The celebrated film festival will take place between 22nd and 29th June 2017 in London and between 23rd June and 2nd July 2017 in Birmingham.

For more details of the London Indian Film Festival 2017, including Birmingham screenings, please visit the LIFF website here.