That Girl in Yellow Boots – Review – Toronto Film Fest 2010

Public Screenings – Friday September 17 9:00:00 PM VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN) Saturday September 18 8:30:00 PM SCOTIABANK THEATRE 4
Sunday September 19 12:30:00 PMTiff Bell LightBox 2

The Toronto International Film Festival has traditionally showcased a
wide variety of films from the entire Indian Film Diaspora. In fact,
in wasn’t until recent years that commercial Bollywood film took over
the spotlight of Indian Films that are showcased at the festival. One
artist who’s work has yet to be showcased at the festival is that of
Anurag Kasyap. Anurag is the poster boy for ‘New Indian Cinema’. The
type of writer that directors beg to re-write dialogues, the type of
director who ‘new faces’ clamor to work with and the personality who
have the industry curious from Amitabh Bachchan right to Danny
Boyle.
In his latest work, That Girl in Yellow Boots, Anurag tells the story
of Ruth, played by Kalki Koechlin, a half Indian/half British girl
who finds her way back to India on a hopeless pursuit find her
estranged father who walked out of her life many years ago. To make
ends meet she works in a massage parlour, dodging everything from
serious commitments to slimy Mumbai locals who attempt to take
advantage of her. The story takes a few predictable twists and turns
before reaching a rather disturbing conclusion which closes the door
on the search but leaves a lot of her journey up in the air.
Anurag has the excellent ability to let his actors breath on screen.
He let’s the story unfold without trying to add to much flash and
effects (which have become typical of most directors shooting Mumbai
scenes) and lets and unconventional story keep the audience interested
in the film. Kalki Koechilin who plays Ruth is a force in the lead
role and could represent a stronger new crop of actors who have a
functional duality that some interesting roles could be made for. She
represents a new look, raw talent and and over all clean slate that
plays to the many ranges of her emotions well.
A smaller yet significant role played by Nasrudeen Shah offers a
familiar ‘indy’ element to the film and his scene stealing dialogues
leaves the audience wanting his character to play a bigger part in the
story. Finally the junkie, part-time boyfriend Prashant Prakash plays
a coke addict going to extremes to fight off his inner demons and a
group of South Indian thugs and does so almost too synthetically.
There has yet to be such a gritty, dirty character portrayed in this
type of cinema and though you may hate the character, the actor needs
to be recognized for some great work as well.
The question of whether there is a market for this ‘type’ of film will
haunt the surface level conversation about the movie, it is in your
face and the type of bold cinema India needs to showcase more of.
What you won’t be able to escape is talk about Anurag’s contribution
to forwarding Indian Cinema with a film like this. It’s the type of
ground work that will be studied in film schools later because it
offers a break from formula without trying to drive home a social
message. Instead That Girl in Yellow Boots showcases a pulse of India
rarely seen on screen without sacrificing the merits of cleaver film
making.

By : Mohit Rajhans Film Critic, Metro Morning, CBC Radio/Omni TV.
Follow his inside scoop on TIFF on twitter @thegooseinsider

Summer Movie Reads – BT Toronto – Aug 4, 2010

Thanks to Chapters.ca for providing the books for this segment.

Summer Movie Preview on Breakfast Television

‘ALICE’ IS A MONSTER! $116.3M Blows Past ‘Avatar’ For Biggest Domestic 3D Bow

From Deadline Hollywood – Disney’s Alice In Wonderland is a monster hit alice in wonderland posterdespite blowing past its budget and bringing back mediocre reviews. It clearly becomes the biggest 3D bow ever and the best March release ever and the highest grossing movie of 2010 with $41 million on Friday and $44.3 million on Saturday. Remember, those higher priced 3D tickets make all the difference. Even so, the Tim Burton-directed, Johnny Depp-starring fantasy flick had the biggest 3D release of all time.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/03/100m-weekend-for-alice-in-wonderland/

Indian-themed comedies a new TV trend

Indian-themed comedies a new TV trend
Exec: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ effect has ‘a lot to do with it’

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i7da84139be87c4e2837c833dd607cd7e

By Nellie Andreeva

Jan 31, 2010, 11:00 PM ET
They are the two comeback stories of this pilot season, projects developed years ago that have been resurrected and have landed orders at the broadcast networks.

The two comedies — “Nirvana” at Fox and “Outsourced” at NBC — have something else in common: They both are ensemble shows about Indians and Indian Americans.

A third project, a U.S. version of popular British comedy “The Kumars at No. 42,” about an immigrant Indian family, also is poised for revival. Eight years after NBC took a stab at the format, the show’s British producers are shopping it to U.S. networks, including FX.

Is it a coincidence or a delayed “Slumdog Millionaire” effect?

“I do think that ‘Slumdog’ had a lot to do with it,” a TV studio executive said of India’s rapid emergence on the U.S. pop culture scene. “It was boiling, hovering there, with the increasing popularity of Indian clothing, food and Bollywood movies, but with its mainstream acceptance and critical success, ‘Slumdog’ pushed it over the tipping point.”

In Hollywood, consciousness grew exponentially last year with Danny Boyle’s runaway hit and Oscar winner as well as the $1.2 billion deal between Indian conglomerate Reliance and DreamWorks.

Reliance also is bidding for MGM and has signed production pacts with eight A-list Hollywood actors, including George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

On the small screen, India’s growing impact has been dramatic as well, albeit more slowly developing.

When producer Gavin Polone brought “Kumars” to the U.S. in 2002, its Indian roots were stripped away and it was remade as “The Ortegas,” a show about a Mexican American family.

In 2004, when NBC shot two pilots of “Nirvana,” one starring then up-and-comer Kal Penn, and one starring creator Ajay Sahgal, there were only two Indian actors in primetime, Sahgal recalls: Ravi Kapoor on NBC’s “Crossing Jordan” and Parminder Nagra, who had just joined “ER.”

That is not the case anymore. Most successful shows launched in the past five years feature a prominent Indian actor: “The Office,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “30 Rock,” “Parks and Recreation” and three hot freshmen: “Community,” “Glee” and “The Good Wife.”

“24″ also has regularly featured Indian actors, including one of Bollywood’s biggest stars, “Slumdog’s” Anil Kapoor, who has a major role this season. Additionally, Penn co-starred on Fox’s “House” until he left to pursue a career in Washington.

“There are far more Indian actors today that can do this kind of thing than there were six or seven years ago,” Sahgal said.

To find them, he is launching an international talent search for “Nirvana,” an ensemble multicamera comedy about grown-up Indian American brothers and their Indian immigrant parents, with casting taking place in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, London and Mumbai.

“Outsourced” — a single-camera office comedy about an American shipped off to India to manage a ragtag group of customer service reps — has hired casting consultants in Toronto and India.

There was some luck involved with the comebacks of “Nirvana” and “Outsourced.”

Sahgal ran into Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly while accompanying his wife, “Lie to Me” co-star Kelli Williams, at a Fox event last year, and Reilly, who originally greenlighted the project at NBC, encouraged Sahgal to revisit it.

Meanwhile, NBC approached Ken Kwapis, the driver behind “Outsourced” in its first incarnation during the 2007-08 season, to direct another pilot for the network. Instead, he urged the network to revisit “Outsourced.”

That the film and TV industry are seizing on the growing popularity of Indian culture isn’t surprising, according to TV historian Tim Brooks.

“Hollywood, and TV in particular, always tries to jump on a trend,” he said.

Another ethnic comedy making a comeback is ABC’s “Funny in Farsi,” about a family of Iranian immigrants living in Newport Beach. The single-camera project directed by Barry Sonnenfeld earned a green light this season after failing to secure a production order last year.

Cultural momentum notwithstanding, “Nirvana, ” “Outsourced” and “Farsi” all face long odds.

There been only a couple of successful ethnic comedies on American television, mostly with Mexican American characters, including the 1970s “Chico and the Man” and ABC’s “George Lopez.” Even with the phenomenal boxoffice success of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” the film’s Greek American-themed series offshoot on CBS lasted only seven episodes.

“American audience is very American-centered and not interested in other cultures for their own sakes,” Brooks said. “For a show such as these to succeed, it can’t be just about an (exotic) culture. Americans want things that they can relate to.”

“Nirvana” has what it takes to do it, said Polone, who attended the taping of the project’s second pilot in 2004.

“That show is the one that would work; it transcends the India-centered idea and is very accessible,” he said.

Kwapis believes “Outsourced” will have no problem connecting with American audiences either.

“This is really a show about America as seen outside of America,” he said. “It is unique and, at the same time, relatable. Unique, because how often do you get to see a comedy set in another country? And relatable because we all have experience talking with a call center worker. It’s an important aspect of our lives but we don’t see what is on the other side of the phone.”