Senior Rediff.com Contributor Aseem Chhabra is director of the New York Indian Film Festival, an entertainment writer and author of Irrfan Khan: The Man, The Dreamer, The Star. You can e-mail the author at aseem.chhabra@gmail.com
Aseem Chhabra lists the top 10 films at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
'Will anything change for you after the election?' And the man said 'Kuch nahin badlega.' And he had a smile on his face. He knew nothing was going to change.
'He cooked chicken curry and so because of him, curries entered the British royal kitchens.' 'Eventually, he became a political advisor to the queen.' 'This guy was disrupting the royal household. It sent shockwaves...' Ali Fazal on his character Abdul Karim and working with acting legend Judi Dench.
Besides the five Indian films that are playing at the Toronto International Film Festival this year -- a rather large collection at an international film festival, says Aseem Chhabra -- there are more films with an Indian connect.
Besides the five Indian films that are playing at the Toronto International Film Festival this year -- a rather large collection at an international film festival, says Aseem Chhabra -- there are more films with an Indian connect.
'I want to go back to India after my success here.'
As Imtiaz Ali's Jab Harry Met Sejal releases, Aseem Chhabra feels it's the best time to revisit the Hollywood classic When Harry Met Sally, which tries to answer the question in the title of this feature.
The Big Sick is packed with delicious details, moments and scenes that makes the film stand apart as a smart rom-com, says Aseem Chhabra.
'I know many actors living outside India put on accents in films because they think that is how Indians talk. I avoid that.' 'I don't have to prove anything through my accent. My psyche is Indian.' Anupam Kher gives us his 500th film!
'He has given us a history, a heritage that we can share with generations to come,' says Aseem Chhabra.
'You made me realise that it is great to be brown, even if we are currently living under Donald Trump's false definition of America.' 'In my 36 years in America there have been few instances where I have laughed and cried so much watching a show about brown people.'
A Death in the Gunj is not a happy film at all times, but it is very entertaining says Aseem Chhabra.
Aseem Chhabra sensed an internal turmoil in Vinod Khanna, which sometimes showed the moody person on screen.
'I know all good things have to end someday. But memories, especially film memories are special,' says Aseem Chhabra.
'One of the director's primary jobs is to make sure that all the actors perform as if they are in the same movie, playing in the same band -- one is not acting in a different band than the other.'
Here are Aseem Chhabra's picks -- 'films that mattered to me, entertained me and will stay with me through the year.'
'The Maoists want the tribals to boycott the election while the police think the election is a farce and do not want to risk going deeper in the conflict zone.' 'Newton (played with sincerity and deep felt passion by Rajkummar Rao) wants to make sure that the locals cast their vote, a right given to them by the Constitution.'
'I have had a US passport for 26 years. I have a Hindu name. But none of that matters it seems.' 'Today I have also become an immigrant from Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Syria.'Today I am Changez Khan and Rizwan Khan.' 'All of us brown people have been put in the same boat by Trump,' says Aseem Chhabra.
There is a group of La La Land haters -- especially jazz aficionados who feel the film gives too much importance to a white man who sets out to save the musical genre associated with the African American community, points out Aseem Chhabra.
'2016 was the year when Shah Rukh Khan took risks and traversed along the path that would ensure the actor could shine more than the star,' says Aseem Chhabra.
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