Bollywood Spotlight Series @ The Latchis in October

October 1, 2022 by Vidhi Salla

For the month of October 2022, I will be showing one Bollywood film, twice every week in partnership with The Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro. I will be presenting a cultural introduction to every film. Before the screening and during the intermission, audiences can shop for my pop-up stall of Indian handicrafts that will be on display for all screening days. Also available will be Indian snacks of samosas. Admission to the screenings is by a suggested donation of $10 that you can pay directly at the venue, but no one will be turned away. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Doors will open half an hour before the screening for handicraft shopping and refreshments.

Below is the full schedule of the series with a brief summary of each film:

Week 1
Mughal-E-Azam (1960)
Run time: 3h 17m
Thursday, October 6th, 6:30pm
Sunday, October 9th, 4pm
Mughal-e-Azam, translated as The Great Mughal is India’s epic historical drama that released in the year 1960. It is considered to be the greatest Bollywood film of all time and an epic created on the biggest scale in the history of Indian cinema. The film is a historical fiction based on the story of Prince Salim who falls in love with a court dancer, Anarkali. Right from the set design down to the shoes of the lead characters, director K Asif recruited the best craftsmen to create the epic of his dreams. It took 14 years to make Mughal-E-Azam. To this day, the film is considered a bible among Indian filmmakers.

Week 2
English Vinglish (2012)
Run time: 2h 14m
Thursday, October 13, 6:30pm
Sunday, October 16, 4pm
English Vinglish, the debut film of director, Gauri Shinde is the story of a homemaker named Shashi Godbole who secretly enrolls for a basic English-speaking class on her month-long trip to New York City. Shashi represents countless Indians who feel lost and under-confident in urban India due to their lack of proficiency in the English language. English Vinglish, the title alludes to the linguistic habit in India of attaching a rhyming made-up word to an existing one; for example coffee-vofee, sugar-vugar, course-vourse, talk-shalk, etc. English Vinglish was the comeback film of the first female superstar of Bollywood, Sridevi who gained immense popularity in the 90s.

Week 3
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003)
Run time: 2h 36m
Thursday, October 20, 6:30pm
Sunday, October 23, 4pm
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. is a comedy film about a gangster named Munna who sets out to fulfill his father’s dream of becoming a doctor by enrolling in a medical college and appearing for the exams. ‘Bhai’ is a suffix used colloquially in Mumbai, India to address gangsters. Munna’s arch nemesis, Dr Asthana, the father of the woman he loves is also the dean of the medical college and their heated interactions result in much of the comedy in the film. Using Munna as an outsider, the movie simultaneously comments on the medical profession and the general apathy with which patients are treated. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. was a blockbuster hit in India and is regarded among the top comedy films in Bollywood.

Week 4
Shree 420 (1955)
Run time: 2h 48m
Thursday, October 27, 6:30pm
Sunday, October 30, 4pm
Shree 420 is a black-and-white classic produced and directed by Raj Kapoor who also plays the titular character. The title of the film refers to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, the punishment for fraud. The film is about a poor orphan named Raj who comes to Mumbai to earn an honest living. Raj is enamored by the wealthy and freewheeling lifestyle of the rich when he visits a club in Mumbai. His knack for playing card tricks is discovered by a wealthy businessman who makes him rich. Shree 420 is a commentary on the fraudulent activities of the wealthy upper class that go unnoticed because of their polished demeanor. For his highly entertaining films that also often carried a social message, Raj Kapoor was known as the showman of the millennium. He belongs to the influential Kapoor family of Bollywood of which five generations have been a part of the Hindi film industry.