Indian Film Festival fetes ‘Slumdog’ star

Up until last year, Anil Kapoor was like most other Bollywood stars -- deified in India but not especially well-known outside of the subcontinent.

But with the success of “Slumdog Millionaire,” in which Kapoor plays preening game show host Prem Kumar, the actor has developed a significant fan base stateside. And now his films will be part of a retrospective at the seventh annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.

The festival, which runs today through Sunday at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood, will show two of Kapoor’s earliest films -- 1991’s “Lahme” and 1997’s “Virasat” -- as well as the world premiere “Gandhi, My Father,” a film that Kapoor produced.

“Gandhi” is an offshoot of a play on the same subject: how Mahatma Gandhi sacrificed his relationships with his family for a bigger cause. “Gandhi has been very heavily documented, and there is not much freedom that can be taken with his story,” Kapoor said. “But we wanted to handle the subject very sensitively and authentically. It’s the story of a man wanting to save the soul of a nation, but who cannot save the soul of his own son.”

Kapoor’s films complement the other cinematic offerings at this year’s event: a mix of short films, documentaries and features that includes the comedic, quirky and offbeat as well as the serious and thought-provoking. Festival organizers and participating filmmakers hope that “Slumdog’s” Oscar wins and the renewed interest in India will help their work to be seen by larger audiences.

“India has been fashionable for a while, but I hope that after ‘Slumdog’ that will be more the case,” said Sooni Taraporevala, whose film “Little Zizou” is one of the highlights on the schedule. Taraporevala, who wrote acclaimed films such as “Mississippi Masala” and “The Namesake,” is making her directorial debut with “Zizou.” The English-language film, set in Mumbai, focuses on the lives of two rival families in the Parsi community, a long-established cultural sect.

The opening-night film, the black comedy/drama “The Fakir of Venice” from director Anand Surapur, features two con men -- one pretending to be a fakir (holy man) -- who journey to the ancient Italian city in search of fame. Later this week, Deepa Mehta will be following up on her controversial 2005 film, the Oscar-nominated “Water,” with “Heaven on Earth,” about a young Indian bride who relocates to Canada with her new husband, where she is forced to live with his seven relatives and two tenants.

Also noteworthy is “Firaaq” (an Urdu word meaning both separation and quest), which marks the directorial debut of Indian actress Nandita Das. In “Firaaq,” she fictionalizes a day in the life of people affected by the violent riots between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, India, seven years ago.

Das said she was inspired to make the movie by becoming embroiled in heated conversations on the subject. “I didn’t start out looking for a story I could direct. Instead, the stories compelled me to become a director.”

More information is at www.indianfilmfestival.org.

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