Patang

Sunday, Novmember 10
1:30 pm

Patang

2012 / USA, India / Hindi, Gujarati, and Eng- lish with English subtitles / 95 min. / 35 mm film Director: Prashant Bhargava
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mukkund Shukla, Seema Biswas

Print Source: First Pond Entertainment

Chicago born-and-raised Indo-American filmmaker Prashant Bhargava’s film debut is centered around Ahmedabad, Gujurat’s renowned annual kite-flying festival, the largest in India, where the competition to cut your rival’s kite out of the sky (often quite literally) is fierce. Successful Delhi business- man Jayesh returns to his family’s ancestral home in Ahmedabad for the festival after an absence of five years, bringing along his college age daughter Priya to show her some of the pleasures and pastimes of his youth. He also has plans for the home where his mother, widowed sister-in-law, and nephew still live, reopening family wounds from the circumstances surrounding his brother’s death, which was the occasion of his last visit home. Shot documentary/verité-style on the streets of Ahmedabad with a mix of professional and non-professional actors, this vividly photographed film will enchant you with its imagery while it provides another view on the age-old conflict between the generations. As the Georgia Straight’s John Lekich enthuses, it’s “a deeply moving examination of an Indian family struggling to find common ground while respecting its members’ different lifestyles.”