Undertow Kashish Film Festival
The second Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival
, inaugurated by filmmaker Sai Paranjpye, and Pooja Bhatt, last night (May 25) at the Cinemax multiplex in Andheri was a well-attended event, that surprisingly was spot-on with time, as the opening film, Undertow, was screened at the exact (9pm) hour it was scheduled for, with every seat taken, and a full house not delayed by unnecessary star brigade fanfare.
In a way, at the cocktail warm-up at 7pm, the affair was what it seemed it would be as celebrity guests ambled in, and could be counted into a handful. Theatre personalities Mahesh Dattani, Dolly Thakore, Alyque Padamsee, film-makerOnir, actor Sameer Soni, film critic Khalid Mohammed, were the few who turned up for the festival. There was a conspicuous absence of Bollywood faces. Even Celina Jaitley, the vocal ambassador of the fest was missing.
After a few introductions, and a hearty welcome by organisers Sridhar Rangayan and Vivek Anand, the opening film, Undertow, by Javier Fuentes Leon sprang up quite a few firsts. It is reportedly the first film from Peru with an LGBT theme. Its the filmmakers first full-length feature film. Its travelled to many film festivals since its release two years ago and has collected a mantel full of gilt trophies, and Kashish is one of the first fests in the Indian subcontinent where it is being showcased.
The soul-surfing sound of the sea in Undertow, is something, most people in this city can alternate with the one we live around, and this opening sequence, of a fishing community living off a coast in Peru, puts viewers at immediate ease, nudging them to sit back, and soak in the caressing waves on the shore.
A young fisherman, Miguel (Cristian Mercado) and his wife Mareila (Tatiana Astengo) are expecting their first child. Miguel, is also having an affair with a painter, Santiago (Manolo Cardona) who is disliked by the village people for his sexuality. A sudden accident changes the course of their lives where Miguel has to come to terms about his love for another man, and his concept of family.
Starkly shot, one of the most endearing qualities of this film is the unrushed, almost sublime narrative, where the central characters about their daily business, as Miguel who goes out fishing and Mariela, who rustles up a meal at home, in their quiet, uneventful domestic set-up free from any high-octane dramatic curve are trapped in the slightest of small-town rituals.
Shopping for vegetables in the market, or attending church on Sunday, where everyone knows everyone, where everyone is glibly accosted, where what you do in your private rooms, is the adventure, and moral barometer for everyone becomes the catapult on which characters in the film tilt themselves on.
Credibly, the sparse setting, with delicious photography, haunting background score, and actors who fit their parts, Undertow takes on a monumental leap for Queer cinema. The director of the film, within the scope of his decidedly simple turn of tale, manages to evoke a world of resonance with all our compressed, compact city-slick emotions, setting them free to wander in the azure water and air of this marvellous design of the Peruvian landscape. He touches on matters of the heart without any showy conceit and draws a parallel with each of our lives, loves and loss with equal felicity and fey.
Undertow is showing again on May 27, at Cinemax, 11.15pm. Its free and if you miss it, you can tie yourself to a boulder and plunge into the Arabian sea, good luck.
by: Madhu
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