An Indian Citizen Kane in Florence by Alex Deleon   The basic objective of the River to River Indian film week in Florence is to present a wide selection of new Indian films by lesser-known or emerging directors with a balance between features, documentaries, a...

  An Indian Citizen Kane in Florence by Alex Deleon The basic objective of the River to River Indian film week in Florence is to present a wide selection of new Indian films by lesser-known or emerging directors with a balance between features, documentaries, and a varie...

Let me introduce myself as a founder-cheerleader for Selvaggia Velo’s commendable Indian film festival held in Florence, which so imaginatively links the rivers Arno with the Ganges.I feel privileged to be a part of this link by giving my personal view on the Tribute it is paying to the late Guru Dutt, the remarkably gifted director who died so young at the height of his creativity, and even more tragically, was not recognized for his immense worth during his short, productive lifetime. It see...

Time was when Indian film was synonymous with a single name --Satyajit Ray. The famous Bengali director, generally recognized as a major world class cinema auteur, made 28 films between 1955 (Pather Panchali) and 1991, most of which were religiously shown in the west, primarily for the benefit of a tiny coterie of esoterically inclined foreign language film buffs, while the works of numerous other Indian directors, some far more interesting than Ray, were studiously ignored. This lamentable dis...

With the continued appeal of Bollywood and last year’s Oscar win by SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the history of Indian cinema is en vogue. This year as part of its Masterworks section, the New York Film Festival is offering the first compete New York retrospective of the works of Indian film artist Guru Dutt. Born in 1925, Dutt was an Indian film director, producer and actor, who is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema. He made quintessential 1950s and 1960s classics such ...

   Guru Dutt in PYAASA (1957) With the continued  appeal of Bollywood and last year’s Oscar win by SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the history of Indian cinema is en vogue. This year as part of its Masterworks section, the New York Film Festival is offering the first compete New York retrospective of the works of Indian film artist Guru Dutt.   Born in 1925, Dutt was an Indian film director, producer and actor, who is often credited with ushering in the golden era of...