TIFF: Raj Kapoor's restored evergreen hit 'Awara' to musings from Manipur

Indian films to include world premiere of Superboys of Malegaon on the life and work of auteur Nasir Shaikh

From the world premiere of a high-quality digital restoration of an Indian classic to a debut feature from a Manipuri filmmaker, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is maintaining its tradition of premiering a wide range of Indian films spanning Bollywood blockbusters to independent films and regional cinema. 

Last year, for instance, world premieres at TIFF included Laapataa Ladies, Thank You for Coming, Kill, and the Marathi film Sthal, with the last two winning audience and jury awards, respectively.

This year, at the ongoing 49th edition of TIFF, the biggest Indian draw could well be a film released more than seven decades ago. The 4K restoration of Raj Kapoor’s evergreen hit, Awara (1951), will have its world premiere on Friday, September 13, in a fitting tribute to commemorate the iconic actor-director’s 100th birth anniversary. 

TIFF’s Director of Programming Robyn Citizen describes Awara as “a vibrant, sensuous, and casually progressive must-see” film and a “highly influential classic of Bollywood cinema”. Awara was restored in 4K by the National Film Development Corporation-National Film Archive of India under the National Film Heritage Mission, a project undertaken by the information and broadcasting ministry.

Bollywood traditionally makes a splash at TIFF’s Gala Presentations. This year, it’s the world premiere of Reema Kagti’s latest film, Superboys of Malegaon, produced by Zoya Akhtar that’s expected to draw attention.

The film is based on the real-life story of Nasir Shaikh, a movie-mad resident of Maharashtra’s Malegaon who entertained his passion – and fellow residents – with amateur remakes of Indian and Hollywood hits in the 1990s. “It’s a delicious triumph of the underdog story. It celebrates the cinematic inventiveness of a zero-budget, small-town guy; Indian speciality jugaad; friendship and inclusiveness — all in a full-on masala package with belly laughs and two hankie weepy territory,” says Meenakshi Shedde, senior programme advisor, South Asia, for TIFF.

Similar to Shaikh’s productions, Superboys runs low on superstar wattage, with Adarsh Gourav leading the cast, but it’s meant to be a mainstream pleaser. The film also premieres on September 13. Shedde asserts, “I can safely say that… Superboys of Malegaon… will be a popular whopper drawing large audiences, including filling up a Gala at the Roy Thomson Hall with 2,630 seats.”

The other world premiere of an Indian film is Lakshmipriya Devi’s Manipuri film, Boong. Set amidst the topical turmoil of Manipur, Devi’s directorial debut follows a schoolboy named Boong in his attempts to locate his missing father and reunite his family. According to Devi, the story “was not meant to be a script; it was meant to be my diary”. She explains: “There was a family story about an absentee great-grandfather, who was living in exile in Myanmar. I used to often wonder about him – did he miss his family, friends and home? Would he recognise me if I met him somewhere? Those thoughts gradually transformed after I became an adult. What if he didn’t want to return home? What if he wanted to erase everything and start afresh? How would the people he left behind feel?”

Summarising the film, Shedde says, “It’s a feisty single mother-son story, brilliantly played by Bala Hijam (mother) and Gugun Kipgen (her son Boong), and shows a woman quietly but courageously defying the patriarchy, misogynist traditions, and corruption; [it’s] inclusive about ‘outsiders’.” It even hilariously pays tribute to Madonna’s fans. Boong and his friend Raju are quite the scene-stealers.

TIFF is also showing Santosh, the debut film of British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri. Set in rural northern India, the film stars Shahana Goswami in the title role as the widow of a police constable who gets his job on compassionate grounds. It’s a gritty social drama exposing latent tensions and pressures in the rural milieu. Goswami shines as a rookie cop struggling to balance her ethics and desire to excel; she is mentored by a veteran cop played by Sunita Rajwar. 

TIFF’s Citizen says, “Goswami projects a practical resilience with each action grounded in careful observation. But it is Rajwar’s turn as the charismatic Inspector Sharma — the moral gradations of her character conveyed in the smallest inflections — that communicates the scope of the compromised system both women struggle against.”

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light, which won the Grand Prix award at the Cannes film festival this year, rounds out the Indian feature film presence at TIFF. Kapadia’s earlier award-winning documentary, A Night of Knowing Nothing, had also played at TIFF three years ago.

Aficionados of Indian cinema, as always, have an eclectic range to choose from at TIFF this year.