Five Indian films to premiere at Toronto festival
As the 2022 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) returns with screenings in theatres, Indian movies will make their presence felt with as many as five scheduled to have their premieres.
As the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has a large Indo-Canadian population, among the major attractions for the community this year will be the debut feature Kacchey Limbu, from director Shubham Yogi. “Whether it’s about playing an old sport in a new way, challenging sexist traditions, or changing your mind about what you want to be, this is a film about embracing possibility – and playing not to win, but for the pure pleasure of the game,” TIFF said about the film. This “coming-of-age sibling drama”, according to the filmmakers, has a backdrop of cricket and stars actor Radhika Madan.
Another draw could be director Nandita Das’ Zwigato, as it stars Indian comedian Kapil Sharma, who plays a driver for a food delivery app. A critique of the gig economy amid the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, TIFF describes the film as one with a “realist style” capturing “an everyday man who begins to see the maddening cycle of star ratings and delivery quotas for the hollow incentives they are, slowly opening up to ideas about workers’ rights and solidarity”.
Also on the slate is National Award-winning director Rima Das’ Tora’s Husband. Her latest feature is set in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be the first Indian film to be featured in the prestigious Platform section.
While these are fiction feature, director Vinay Shukla will bring his documentary While We Watched to the festival this year, with TV journalist Ravish Kumar at its centre. “Although the film is rooted in India, its depiction of misinformation eroding fact-based news could apply to any number of countries from Russia to the United States,” TIFF noted about the production.
Legendary director Satyajit Ray’s last feature, Agantuk, made in 1991, will also be presented at the festival, with the world premiere of a high-quality digital restoration courtesy the National Film Development Corporation of India and the National Film Archive of India.
Finally, while officially a Canadian production, New Delhi-born director Nisha Pahuja’s documentary To Kill A Tiger, is based in India, as it tracks the compelling story of a family in Jharkhand struggling for justice after a 13-year-old girl is sexually assaulted by three men. TIFF noted the film is “harrowing” but is “also courageous and, by its stunning finale, galvanizing”.
There were three Indian films featured at TIFF last year, and just one in 2020, as Covid-19 marred the festival, which was forced to move entirely online. Before the pandemic, in 2019, there were four movies from India.
The festival runs from September 8 to 18.