Mumbai 2012 Day #1: Bismillah!

What a great start to the ritual of the year. Mumbai film festival is back and I’ll force myself to write this blog post every late night despite a hectic day, and a lot of travel.

After starting the day with a very mainstream thriller, ‘Childish Games’ (Spanish, 2011), at Inox, Nariman Point, I rushed to Liberty. The old-world charm of that theater was perfect for the film that was to follow – Luchino Visconti’s ‘The Leopard’ (Italian, 1963). It was a long and difficult film to watch, but the restored print enhanced the colours on the screen so brilliantly that eventually, and also for several other reasons, I ended up loving the film. It might be difficult to watch a greater film this festival.

It was followed by Vittorio Di Sicca’s neo-realistic gem, ‘Umberto D’ (1952), which was less sentimental and more playful than his ‘Bicycle Thieves’, but evoked similar response.

The fourth film of the day was the silent Indo-German classic ‘Throw of Dice’ (1929) by Franz Osten. The best part of the screening was the 15-piece Live Orchestra that played with the film, German musicians playing Indian tunes on Western instruments. The standing ovation that they received after the screening is the longest and most overwhelming I’ve ever seen. I was proud to be a part of that audience who kept applauding the musicians for several minutes.

It has been a beautiful beginning. Wondering what the next six days are going to bring to me.