Evening Shadows, a feature film directed by award-winning filmmaker and gay rights activist Sridhar Rangayan has been creating waves at its screenings, first in Sydney and then in Bengaluru with houseful shows.

While the main story is of a mother-son bond that has to stand the test of hidden truths, it is more about traditional families in small-town India. More than a coming out gay film, Evening Shadows places women at its center; oppressed women caught up in a patriarchal system.

The five women who weave the story together try to smile through their tears to touch your heart and raise important questions about the status of women in small-town India. A subject like this granted a UA certificate for the first time, empowers both women and LGBTQ communities.

Mona Ambegaonkar who plays the main protagonist says women are the fountainhead of civilization. Yamini Singh says she accepted film because it is about choices. Written by Saagar Gupta and directed by Sridhar, Veena Nair, another character in the film plays Lata, a woman married to a gay man hiding in the closet. Disha Thakur, the fourth protagonist to raise her voice who plays Neela, the bride-to-be and finally the oldest of them all Kala Ramanathan who plays the matriarch of the family.

Premiered at the Bengaluru International Film Festival, Evening Shadows was screened in Amsterdam at the Roze Filmdagen film festival and also at Outfest Fusion in Los Angeles last week. Director Sridhar Rangayan will be attending the European Premiere of the film in Amsterdam along with producer Karim Ladak.

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Nominated by his school to participate in the Inter-School Photography Exhibition ‘Vana Mahotsavam’ in 2015 Dev not just won the first prize the first prize but also invited to paint live at the ‘Art Mela’ organized by his school in 2016. His Paintings, Digital Art and photographs are an inspiration.

It is unusual for an artiste to also excel in sports but Dev Mehta is an exception. He has participated in inter-school football tournament for boys under age 10, got recognition for participating in Handwriting contest n national level. He is the youngest activist associated with Nina Foundation, an NGO for friends with spinal cord injury and has over the years designed and painted their annual calendars.

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This was evident when he exhibited 40 of his paintings at Bal Disha Children’s Day a special exhibition organized by the Maharashtra Government for young child artists. For the Kala Ghoda Art Festival 2013 Dev he painted a Suzuki Baleno car and another masterpiece called ‘Chalti Ka Naam Mumbai.’

Like all youngsters he was consumed by the gadgets and drawn to the digital medium. The first time he downloaded an App called SketchBook Pro on his iPad and voila – colourful faces and forms were created with just a few strokes of his fingers. It was a matter of time that he got attracted to the camera, both with his iPhone as well as a DSLR camera and he shoots effortlessly. He has a cinematographer’s vision and his every frame is lyrical.

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In the coming years, little Dev graduated to a bigger canvas and explored different mediums. He was as comfortable with watercolors and the pastels as with the crayons and the acrylic. The more he discovered the more he wanted to know. He befriended the oils and the charcoals and when that tired him he flirted with the sketch pens and the digital and all this without any coaching or any tutor.

He is probably the only artiste in India to hold his first solo exhibition when he was under 10 Rhapsody in 2009 and Trancestroke in 2012. Dev received special recognition for this and was awarded the Robin Age (Weekly Children’s Newspaper) Bright Sparks Certificate for Spatial Intelligence as well.

The editor of Cambridge University Hindu Cultural Society’s – Sanskaar Magazine, London, UK invited Dev to participate in their contest because she believed there is a spiritual connection in all his creativity and is able to interpret the reason why he paints the way he does.

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He was only 3 years old when his father Dhaval Mehta knew that his son was special. All he needed was a crayon in hand and Dev utilized every surface in the house to draw, sketch and paint. It began with the floor as he crawled, then as he grew taller it spread to the house walls, later bed sheet and when nothing was available body parts.

Dhaval Mehta decided that that will be no regulations at home, his son could paint and sketch whenever and wherever he wants. He got him a box full of colors and when Dev was 5 years old introduced him to a canvas, to oil paint and Dev held the brush in his hand like he was born to paint. His very first painting titled “From Tempest to Calmness” was a flight to the imagination and there was no looking back.

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Film: Pari

Date: 04.03.2018

Director: Prosit Roy

Cast: Anushka Sharma, Prarambrata Chatterjee, Rajat Kapoor, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Mansi Multani

Ratings: 2 stars

 It is not often that a leading lady in films starts a production house, Anushka Sharma in association with Prerna Arora launched Clean Slate Films three years ago and has since then been making genre specific, moderate budget films.

In NH 10/ 2015 Anushka portrayed crime on the highway. Phulwari/ 2017 told about a tormented soul and this year she presents Pari. It is evident from the poster/trailers of the film that this is not a story about angels who guard paradise but about evil spirits who breathe on the planet.

Inspired from true incidents occurred in Bangladesh and supported by newspaper reportage, this is a first on the practice of that time.

On a rainy night Arnab/ Parambratta Chatterjee encounters an orphan Rukhsana/ Anushka Shama and offers her shelter in his home and Rukhsana continues to be Arnab’s guest longer than intended.

The biggest problem with the film in my opinion is that the director assumes that the audience is familiar with the backstory and does not bother to elaborate as a result there is a lot of artificial intrigue but no clarity on content or on why Rajat Kapoor does what he does!

It is unusual that Arnab lives in a narrow lane in Kolkatta and survives a monstrous secret without any curiosity/ questions from his neighborhood.

The negatives are all the clichés- the forever engulfing darkness, unnecessary scenes of blood, overgrown nails, satanic verses and eerie shadows in black hoods breathing heavily. We are informed that the evil spirit delivers her baby in a month and the climax is straight out of the fifties.

The positives are the performances, Chatterjee is refreshing and Sharma sparkles despite a poor storytelling. Her courage to always travel new terrain and embrace versatility is admirable. She has proved over the years that her films can be disappointing but never Anushka Sharma!

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

Working since the age of five Sridevi was a natural and as decade went by thought of Mumbai city and Hindi films as her home. Tired of being parked in Centaur Hotel for months at stretch for shootings she purchased her home in Lokhandwala designed by a close friend. I remember visiting her newly designed home one late evening for a cover story.  When I arrived the house was buzzing with haunting melody, she revealed the music was composed by a 27-year old boy who will soon be grabbed by the Hindi film industry. She was referring to AR Rehman.

The 1990s was a challenging decade for the actress, her link up with her producer Boney Kapoor, her marriage and the controversies, her pregnancy. I remember visiting her in the hospital. In fact, I suggested the name Jhanvi inspired from her film Judai and two years later, her second daughter Khushi.

To be continued…

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