Best Indian Films to watch at the 18th JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR 2016
written by Souranath Banerjee
And finally that moment is here, that very event for which we all Cinema-Lovers have been impatiently waiting for – the 18th JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL 2016 starts from 20th Oct!
And so, it’s time to check out some of the best Indian films (Fiction) that demands your attention while you get busy with the festival!
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XliKkuxa_nA
A unique coming of age film based on a young boy who has some conflicted ideas of masculinity.
Featured in the Section: Opening Film, the film cast includes Gulshan Devaiah, Kalki Koechlin, Vikrant Massey, Om Puri, Tillotama Shome, Ranvir Shorey, Tanuja among others.
The opening film at the festival and also actor Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial debut.
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpHqeHF8NM0
Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, the film featured in the Section: India Gold chronicles the secret lives of four small-town women who wants to break-free from their regular lives, and rebel in search of freedom.
The film features a very interesting starcast – Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Vaibbhav Tatwawdi, Sushant Singh, Shashank Arora among others.
3. Idiot (TV Mini-Series)
Ahamaq (original title)
Featured in the Section: The New Medium this film was originally a 
television series based on Dostoevsky’s famous novel by the same name.
Featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Mita Vasisht, Ayub Khan-Din among others and directed by the acclaimed Mani Kaul in the year 1991, this earlier unreleased movie is definitely one of the prime attraction in the festival.
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJxbALLv6ug
Directed by Milind Dhaimade, this is the story of five friends who struggle to find a place to play football in Mumbai.
Featured in the Section: India Gold, this movie is not only about missing the every-Sunday football game ritual at the Juhu Beach, but it’s also about growing up, about friendship and about finding one’s own space, and then of course happiness!
5. Bioscope
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlw58ZW-ViI
Mitraa directed by Ravi Jadhav, Bail by Girish Mohite, Ek Hota Kau by 
Viju Mane and Dili e Nadaan by Gajendra Ahire – four talented directors and their four short films!
Featured in the Section: Marathi Talkies, this is a highly anticipated anthology film in the festival that is definitely worth your time!
6. Kalpana (1948)
The genius dancer Uday Shankar directed and acted in this classic film which is currently featured under the Section: The New Medium at the festival.
A unique form of story telling, a real “dance film” – rare and brilliant, such accurate compositions and use of various dance forms makes this film visually breathtaking and highly unconventional as well.
7. Autohead
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOLzzdTWBKs
Section: India Gold, directed by Rohit Mittal, this one is a feature length mockumentary in which a documentary crew follows a notorious auto rickshaw driver called Narayan in the suburbs of Mumbai.
The movie overall has a voyeuristic quality since the film-crew directly becomes the part of this weird, sexually frustrated and often mentally deranged life of the auto driver. Dangerous and realistic at the same time!
8. Maroon
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9g81zbVHA0
The story is of an insomniac university professor in Dehradun, who betrayed by his loving wife has been marooned into loneliness; where he suffers psychologically and becomes delusional.
A thriller that is being featured under the Section: The India Story, directed by Pulkit – and casting Manav Kaul, Devyani, Saurabh Sachdeva, Sumeet Vyas among others.
Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KTFUg3YwBs
Directed by Akshay Singh, this film makes a statement on the Indian obsession of fair skin!
The story revolves around a certain beauty parlour in Banaras run by two sisters Pinky and Bulbul.
But the film takes a different turn when a body is being found and soon two police men come to investigate. Featuring under Section: The India Story, this film is surely something to look out for in this festival.
10. Donkey in a Brahmin Village (1977)
Agraharathil Kazhuthai (original title)
Featured in the Section: The New Medium, this brilliant piece of cinema is a satire told in an uniquely innovative and surreal 
narrative style!
Directed by the renowned filmmaker John Abraham, the movie is basically on brahminical bigotry and superstitions.
On the brink of being banned and the film was highly ignored for a long time inspite of receiving a national award!
and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most interesting one. A must watch)
+1. Anatomy of Violence (2016)
Though categorised as a Canadian entry, this film is based on an Indian issue, the language is Hindi and it’s also made by an acclaimed director from Indian origin, none other than Deepa Mehta!
The film revolves around the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old girl by six men inside a moving bus in New Delhi, December 2012. A fictionalised take on the incident and the consequences of such a gruesome crime on our society.
A few docu-fictions that also looks enticing and entertaining India in a Day, The Cinema Travellers, Burqa Boxers and An Insignificant Man.
Poster courtesy: www.imdb.com and mumbaifilmfestival.com.
lovers) Nil Battey Sannata is finally released and it’s superbly entertaining, very emotional and most importantly a film that perfectly resonates our society.
The film makes us question that being a single mother and that too from a poor financial background, is it too ambitious for Chanda (
to make the audiences all chocked up and teary-eyed by the end.