New York Indian Film Festival offers a fresh perspective on contemporary Indian cinema

Several other well-known Indian film personalities will be featured in a wide array of works. Opening Film “Dear Jassi” is directed by celebrated Indian American filmmaker Tarsem Singh, who has made films with Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts. Plus he has directed videos for music legends like the bands R.E.M. and Lady Gaga. Closing Film “Mrs.” stars Bollywood actress Sanya Malhotra. Amitabh Bachchan, Vivek Gomber (“Court” and “Sir”), classical dancer and actress Leela Samson (“O Kadhal Kanmani”) and Adil Hussain (“Life of Pi”) star in filmmaker Pooja Kaul’s debut film “The Umesh Chronicles.” Rajshri Deshpande (Netflix show “Trial by Fire” and “Angry Indian Goddesses”) plays the lead in “Privacy.” Roshan Mathew (“Moothon,” “Darlings” and the recent Amazon Prime show “Poacher”) and Darshana Rajendran (“Koode” and “C U Soon”) star in the Sri Lankan drama “Paradise” directed by Prasanna Vithanage and presented by Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies. Tannishtha Chatterjee (“Brick Lane” and “Angry Indian Goddesses”) plays the lead in American filmmaker Wendy Bednarz’s debut film “Yellow Bus.” Last year’s best director winner Avinash Arun (“Three of Us”) returns with a stunning short film “Monsoon Walk.” Two times NYIFF best film winner Umesh Kulkarni (“Highway Ek Selfie Arpar,” 2016) and “Vihir,” 2010) brings a short film this year “U=Me.” The film stars Arjun Radhakrishnan (“Pada,” and the series “Rocket Boys”), Shweta Basu Prasad (“Makdee” and last year’s hit show “Jubilee”) and veteran actor Mohan Agashe (“Astu” and “Kaasav”). Naseeruddin Shah stars in the short film “Khidki.” Geetanjali Kulkarni (“Court” and the series “Gullak”) plays the lead in the short film “Rhino Charge.” “We aim to truly underscore the NYIFF commitment to diversity and cultural representation in film,” said Aseem Chhabra, NYIFF Festival Director. “This year, we will feature films in 12 languages spoken in India: Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oria, Punjabi, Tamil. Two films also feature Sinhalese and Arabic languages. All films will have English subtitles.” “I am thrilled to present the lineup for this year’s New York Indian Film Festival. Our selection of films not only epitomizes the artistic brilliance we champion but also mirrors the vibrant narratives we strive to share with our community. This year, the amalgamation of cultural richness, outstanding narratives, and stellar performances is poised to make this edition of the festival unparalleled in its appeal,” said Poonam Khubani IAAC Board Member. Ticket prices are $15 for regular film programs and $50 for opening and closing films. Tickets for the special event with Shabana Azmi are $30. Tickets are on sale at nyiff.us.