This year Asian films make up the largest single component in the festival, from the surreal Murali Nair's A Story that Begins at the End/Arimpara to the political Rajiv Vijay Raghavan's The Path/Maargam and Manish Jha's A Nation Without Women/Matrubhoomi, from the historical Amol Palekar's Eternity/Anaahat to the current Rakesh Sharma's Final Solution. A host of directors, producers, writers and actors will be attending the festival, introducing and discussing films, and taking part in debates. These include Partho Sengupta, Manish Jha, Rajiv Vijay Raghavan, Pritish Nandy, Somaratne Dissanayake, Sudhir Mishra, Rakesh Sharma, and Amol Palekar. 
Irfan Khan |
The highlight of this year's festival will be the closing film Maqbool, Vishal Bhardwaj's star-studded retelling of Macbeth, modernized and relocated to Mumbai's criminal underworld. The film stars such luminaries as Pakaj Kapoor, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah. Director Vishal Bhardwaj and star Irfan Khan will be present for this screening. Irfan Khan is well known to both Indian and mainstream Western audiences for his roles in Asif Kapadia's The Warrior, Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay and the Rohinton Mistry-penned Such a Long Journey. What do you want to do now? |
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Commonwealth Film Festival - 30 April to 9 May - Asian cinema
Powerhouse -Watch again
