Birmingham Indian Film Festival screening online films in run up to festival

midlandsmovies • April 21, 2021
The Birmingham Indian Film Festival screening online films in run up to the 2021 festival

The UK and Europe’s largest South Asian film festival continues to screen movies online ahead of the June 2021 festival which takes place in London, Birmingham and Manchester.

The online UK-wide screenings include Hotel Salvation which will be screening its premiere via LoveLIFFathome.com
 
Hotel Salvation, also known as Mukti Bhavan is a gentle charmer focussing on 77-year-old Dayanand Kumar, played by Lalit Behl (Titli, Made in Heaven), who has an ominous dream convincing him that his end is near. He takes the news to his dutiful son, Rajiv played by the critically acclaimed Adil Hussain (Life of Pi, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Star Trek), who is left with no choice but to make the journey with his stubborn father, so that he can take his last breath in the holy city of Varanasi and end his cycle of rebirth by attaining salvation.

Daya and Rajiv check into Mukti Bhawan (Hotel Salvation) in Varanasi, a guesthouse designated for people to die there, but as the days go by, Rajiv struggles to juggle his responsibilities back home, while Daya starts to bloom in the hotel. Rajiv gives his father a shot at salvation but as family bonds are tested, he finds himself torn, not knowing what he must do to keep his life together. A strong supporting cast include Geetanjali Kulkarni (Court, Sir, Bombay Rose), who plays Rajiv’s wife, Palomi Ghosh (Typewriter, Nachom-ia Kumpasar) playing their grownup daughter Sunita and Navnindra Behl (Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Maachis) as Vimla, a widow and long-term resident of the hotel who forms a friendship with Daya.

 

An added bonus on the site that is viewable globally, is a Q&A with Shubhashish Bhutiani, whose directorial debut bagged him the National Film Award – Special Mention at the 64th National Film Awards. His film has been described by The Times as “If The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel had been remade by Ingmar Bergman” and lauded as “Smart, spellbinding and achingly relatable” by The Guardian.

The film screens on Sunday 25 April and will be available from 3pm till 7pm and £3 tickets can be booked at loveliffathome.com.

 

Films will continue on the online platform till the end of May, and you can also catch up with Q&As of previous screenings including the cast, Mona Ambegaonkar & Devansh Doshi and Director, Sridhar Rangayan of Evening Shadows, which was shown in February and Kireet Khurana, Director of T for Taj Mahal shown in March.

The Bagri Foundation is a UK registered charity, inspired by unique and unexpected ideas that weave the traditional and the contemporary of Asian culture. The Foundation, with its roots in education, is driven by curiosity and a desire to learn, and aims for each project to challenge, engage and inspire. Through a diverse programme of film, visual arts, music, dance, literature and talks, the Bagri Foundation gives artists and experts from across Asia and the diaspora, wider visibility on the global stage. Recent programmes include Tantra: enlightenment to revolution at the British Museum; Object, Story, Wonder: Museum Collections Revealed; andFrom Here to Eternity: Sunil Gupta, A Retrospective at The Photographer’s Gallery, London. www.bagrifoundation.org

 

This programme is supported by Film Hub London (managed by Film London), Film Hub Midlands and Film Hub North, proud to be partners of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. Major partners of LIFF are the Bagri Foundation and the British Film Institute (BFI).

 

Cary Rajinder Sawhney MBE, Executive & Programming Director of LIFF says "After a challenging few months, we are bringing some much needed uplifting entertainment and as always our quality films offer fresh views of India and South Asia; movies that may even challenge and certainly leave you thinking."


In Conversations, Masterclasses and Q&As are also still available to view for FREE at www.loveliffathome.com

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