Czech Viewers Experience A Bit Of Flavor Thanks to The Prague Indian Film Festival

From October 12 to 14 at Kino Svtozor, celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Prague Indian Film Festival with Indian films that provide a view into the Indian subcontinent. The festival culminates with a celebration that rivals any Bollywood dance-off. This year’s edition offers local audiences a broad variety of Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, and Bengali cinematography with both Czech and English subtitles.

The festival is devoted to movies made in India’s main and independent studios over the previous two years. These films, also referred to as “masala movies,” have gained popularity recently.

Beyond the eye-catching surface, emerging directors are giving Bollywood clichés new life and highlighting current social challenges. Short documentaries offer insights into Indian culture and daily life, complementing the choices and providing additional context.

Wednesday, October 10

Debika Chatterjee and her husband Aniruddha had a happy family life in Norway when the movie Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway is set, but the local child protection agency takes the kids away and puts them in an institution. The film, which is partially based on the true story of expat Sagarika Chakraborty, criticizes the Norwegian authorities for their lack of empathy and cultural understanding while also challenging the conservative structure of Indian households.

October 13th, Friday

The name of the North Indian city of Allahabad was changed to Prayagraj in 2018 to emphasize its significance as a Hindu pilgrimage site. The character of Mampu serves as an example of how the city’s original energy was lost as a result of the renaming in filmmaker Faraz Ali’s movie Shoebox. A young woman named Mampu travels to Islamabad to care for her elderly father Madhav, who is also about to have his once-popular single-screen movie theater demolished.

Sunday, October 15

Ela from Once Upon a Time in Calcutta is devastated by the untimely death of her small daughter and intends to leave her home and begin over. She tries to convince her half-brother to sell the run-down theater where Ela’s mother previously performed, but she is having financial difficulties. In this eerie movie, Calcutta-born director Aditya Vikram Sengupta honors his hometown by showcasing the city’s great cultural heritage and its function as a breeding ground for local revolutionary movements.

Bollywood movies frequently feature elaborate dance sequences, and on October 14 festival attendees may go straight from a movie screening to a party honoring both Indian film and dance. The event takes place at P.M. Cluband and includes dancers from Bollywood Naplno Dance & Yoga Centre, DJ Deepak, who will play a selection of the biggest Bollywood hits from the previous two decades, it a raffle with prizes.