Raavanan in Tamil (2010) with Vikram in title role and Aishwariya Rai , 1994 Miss World, as Sita. This is Director Mani Ratnam's most spectacular venture to date . It is rustic, it is wild. It also has A.R.Rehman's foot-stomping music. It will be screened on Saturday November 26, 2011 at 6:30 pm Location is Moot Court Room East A (EA) 1031 in Mount Royal University.The address with map and trailers will be posted on Hidden Gems website soon. There are only 75 seats, so register soon.
Black (2005) Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring two of India's leading actors, Rani Mukerjee and Amitabh Bachan. It evokes innumerable metaphors like, from darkness to light, or from ignorance to knowledge etc. It is most often compared to Helen Keller's story. I would pit this against the Oscar-winning movie any day. Sunday November 27, 2011 at 6 pm. The address with map and trailers will be posted on Hidden Gems website soon. There are only 75 seats, so register soon.
Hidden Gems presents its Annual Film Festival 2011 over two weekends in October as highlighted below in the calendar. Times and Titles are shown below with the trailers.
| October 2011 | ||||||
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | |||||
Natrang 2010 Friday October 7 2011, 7pm 124 min Marathi Ravi Jadav 14A Cardel
Guna, a farm-worker and amateur wrestler, wants to play a King in a village play. He, along with his friends, form a company and run into numerous problems, including finding a female performer.
Harun-Arun 2009 October 8th 2011, 4pm 73min Gujarati Vinod Ganatra G Cardel
Harun, a muslim boy gets separated from his grandfather on crossing the Indian border. He is befriended by 3 children, who at first, hide him from their mother. Thus begins a game of hide-and-seek.
I am Kalam 2010 October 8th 2011, 6pm 86min Hindi Nila Madhab Panda G Cardel
A young boy Chotu, works in a road-side food stall to help out his mother. So he can't attend school. Inspired by then President Kalam, he changes his name and hopes to pursue his dream of education.
Sunday October 9,2011, 3pm Bollywood Dancers(Live performance in the courtyard of Plaza)
Mirch 2010 Sunday October 9, 2011 4pm 105min Hindi Vinay Shukla PG Plaza
A witty and cleverly told story of women
Basundhara (the earth) 2009 Sunday October 9, 2011 7pm 117min Assamese/Hindi Hiren Bora PG Plaza
The story of ecological disaster wrought by the loss of habitat for elephants, due to illegal trafficking of wood, an unlicensed stone quarry and uncontrolled poaching in this Northern state of Assam.
Makaramanju(Mist of the Capricorn) 2010 Friday October 14, 2011,7pm Malayalam Lenin Rajendran PG Cardel
The true story of a celebrated painter Raja Ravi Varma in process of painting his masterpiece. It is a story of two loves - that of a painter and his creation. Every frame is incredibly beautiful.
Memories in March 2010 Saturday October 15, 2011, 6:30 pm 103 min English/H/B Sanjay Nag PG Cardel
A bereaved mother(50) dumbstruck by the news of an accidental death of her 28 yr old son comes to Kolkata. Memories In March is about emotional archiving. In her dead son's office apartment laden with memories and her constant interaction with his office colleagues, makes her wonder, who did he really belong to?!
Life Goes On 2010 Sunday October 16, 2011, 6:30 pm 115 min English Sangeeta Dutta PG U.K. Plaza
"People from the diaspora had wonderful stories to share. After 9/11 and 7/11, the sense of suspicion about other communities became quite palpable. There was a change in how people looked at us, South Asians, and at Muslims in particular.... to look at partition of Bengal from Bangladesh" -says Sangeeta Dutta.
To celebrate "2011, the Year of India in Canada" Hidden Gems will screen Tere Bin Laden(1.03') on Saturday, September 10th 2011 at 4pm at Cardel Theatre.
To celebrate "2011, the Year of India in Canada" Hidden Gems will screen Vihir(2.37') on Saturday, September 10th 2011 at 7pm at Cardel Theatre.
To celebrate "2011, the Year of India in Canada" Hidden Gems will screen Moner Manush(1:57') on Friday, September 9th 2011 at 6:30pm at Cardel Theatre.
To celebrate "2011, the Year of India in Canada" Hidden Gems will screen Rang de basanti, On Saturday August 13th 2011, as well as on Monday, August 15th 2011 at 6:30 pm at Cardel Theatre. Note the early start. See Poster for details.
Kanchivaram (Tamil: ) is a forthcoming Tamil film directed by Priyadarshan. The movie stars Prakash Raj and Shriya Reddy in the leading role and has the musical score by M. G. Sreekumar
Laboratory - Saturday, May 7th 2pm, PLAZA, 122min, Bengali with English subtitles, Director Raja Sen , * Raveena Tandon
Laboratory is the most widely acclaimed short story by Tagore-it was a progressive mix of 20th century feminism with orthodox Indian mindset. In laboratory, Rabindranath explored virtually every dimension of feminism amidst a changing society of Bengal which saw its peak in Scientific glory during 1930s.
Against the backdrop of shackles of British rule, a tale drenched with sentiments and mixed with a strong feeling of patriotism, Laboratory was penned by Tagore in the last days of his literary life. Perhaps this is why his treatment of the characters in Laboratory does not match the rest of his work. He might have given Sohini a Punjabi origin because the feudal society of Bengal at that time might not have accepted Sohini as a Bengali. His idea was to show a beautiful woman, much younger than her husband, who has the courage of her convictions to fulfill a promise she makes to herself in the memory of her husband, challenging all odds.Naukadubi(Boat wreck) 2011,Saturday May 7th 4:30pm, PLAZA, Bengali, with English subtitles, Director Rituporno Ghosh
Naukadubi, written in 1904, is a lyrical, almost poetic, look at one of Tagore’s hauntingly classic stories about how a boat accident on a swollen, storm swept river plays havoc with the lives and emotions of four people. Rituporno Ghosh, multiple National awards winner and recently unanimously crowned, "the Director of the Decade", in the 'Big Bangla Movie Awards 2010’, has given it a contemporary makeover. The Sen sisters, Raima and Riya are cast as wives, though they never once share the screen space. Chatterjee and Sengupta play their parts with a touch of conviction that infuse in their characters a rare sense of authenticity. Noukadubi in its own languorous, though lovely way, takes us towards the truth, slowly peeling off the layers of lie. The Director is in no hurry to reach the climax.
Functioning in an ambience of illiteracy and a diversity of languages, Indian cinema has evolved into a major medium of communication to bring Tagore to the masses.Tagore’s films as a genre effectively blend words with visuals yet sustain the independence of the original literary work.“Two-thirds of all feature films are based on literature (fiction and nonfiction),”says Sabbir Chowdhury, a teacher of the English Department, Jahangirnagar University, There can be two ways to adapt a literary piece to cinema: literal or creative. When a director chooses Tagore, he offers an alternative world-view that is his interpretation of a Tagore creation. After all Tagore himself said in “Pashchim Jatrir Diary”, Films have to be liberated from literature.” Ghosh's tribute to Gurudev on his 150th birthday, brings about yet another treat for the eyes to behold and for the soul to imbibe. The film also has Robindro Sangeet, which is eternal. "The popularity of the songs has been consistent as Tagore has woven every emotion in them through his words and music".-Buddhadeb Dasgupta.
Sunday February 20th. 2011 at 4pm at the Plaza. 108 mins; Rating 14A
"The Waiting City"
Synopsis: An outwardly happy Australian couple journey to Calcutta to collect their adopted baby, but on arrival find that the arrangements have yet to be finalized. Soon, the intoxicating mystic power of the Indian city pulls them in separate and unexpected directions, and the vulnerability of their marriage begins to reveal itself.