Sometimes all it takes is a reason and then if that happens rest be assured you get to see history being made. So 'Mumbai Cutting' happened and then the cream of the bollywood directors decided to be present en mass at the world premier for IFFLA at Arc lights Hollywood on the 27th for the world premier. Thus history is being made. The coup de grace is that all of them are rooting for the same movie the joint venture called 'Mumbai Cutting'!
Now the interesting issue to be considered is that can the IFFLA (Indian film festival of Los Angeles) take the combined weight of these heavyweights on the same platform! Emotions are going to run high as each of these master directors will be vying for the appreciations.
On 27th Arclights theatre, Hollywood is going to witness the rare coming together of the highly competitive two of a kind directors - Rituparno Ghosh who gives his view on the seductive pull of Mumbai and Jahnu Barua, explores the effect of a stranger. These acclaimed national award winners, for a change, are not gunning down at each other but standing side by side cheering each other. What a sight!
Not to be left far behind, good friends Anurag Kashap and Sudhir Mishra will be sharing space for once not being able out do each other! Kashap has worked on the effect of "Mumbai on delinquent juveniles" while Mishra is delving on the apathy in society. Best friends or not these crafty directors will be finding means and ways to judge the reactions. Being a bee on the wall during these proceedings will be extremely interesting!
Adding verve to this get together will be the debutant director Ayush Raina and Shahshank Ghosh. Having already worked under Shahshank, Raina must be feeling the heat. To put it mildly, some sparks might fly. But for now they have agreed to disagree!
In Shashank Ghosh's view point 'Mumbai Cutting' not just portrays the "life of a Mumbaikar but also of refugees like me, who've left their homeland and found a new home here", while Ruchi Narain feels 'Mumbai Cutting' will give an out-of-the-box experience to the viewer.
The up close and personal approach of Revathy finds the fact interesting that "this film has a thread called "Mumbai' that is running through out. I've shown a facet of Mumbai where human rights are taken for granted by the victims of injustice and where sexual favors are just a way of life and not an eye raising issue'" For Manish Jha the whole idea of making a film on Mumbai is what got him excited that too with directors of such high caliber "My film in 'Mumbai Cutting' is an optimistic one. It's city of hope and that's what my film portrays".
And the piece de resistance is that veteran director Kundan Shah is back after a long hiatus bringing with him his enviable sarcasm and black comedy style in 'Mumbai Cutting'. Mentor Kundhan Shah and disciple Sudhir Mishra will be sharing space at IFFLA. This is a treat by itself.
"All the directors have portrayed the myriad flavours of the city in 10-minute story capsules. It's extremely challenging to tell a story in the span of 10 minutes that too in a film format but the directors have simply outdone themselves!" Riding high on this note is the CEO of White Cloud Production Niyati Shah.
To sum it up in the words of the IFFLA Festival Director Christina Marouda "To close with a unique project such as 'Mumbai Cutting' - A City Unfolds, simply underscores our dedication to provide a platform for films that we feel deserve to be seen by audiences in Los Angeles as well as throughout the U.S.".
Way to go Mumbai Cutting!