Opening Night Festivities for the Mumbai International Film Festival

Well, Opening Night was yesterday. We arrived early to try to secure our badges (which we still haven't gotten, and probably won't till the last day of the fest ;) but were shocked to see the stars that turned out. 

We got to see Karan Johar, Shabana Azmi, Yash Chopra Neil Nitin Mu

kesh, Farhan Akhtar and Rani Mukherjee. It was a pretty cool opening ceremony. They had a tribute to Yash Chopra and Shashi Kapoor, both legends. As soon as that was over though, most people left and didn't watch the opening night                                                                                         film, which was kinda funny.

 

Mansi and I stayed for the Informant, directed by Steven Soderberg. It was definitely interesting, a bit different from what I was thinking it would be. I was wondering if Indian audiences would get the humor, but I did hear a few chuckles. I'm a little a

nxious to see if they'll get any of the jokes in Bollywood Beats. We'll just have to wait and see!

It was cool to see that a lot of Bollywood showed up to the fest, I think it'll just be for the opening and closing night films. 

Made it to India!

Well we made it to India last Thursday! It's been an interesting experience so far. The plane ride was relaxing, at least the second leg, since Mansi and I both got upgraded (thanks Anil!). 

So far, the fest hasn't begun, but there is an insane amount of movies they are showing. The Informant, by Steven Soderberg opens the fest, which I haven't seen, and am looking forward to seeing. 

We're still waiting on getting our passes, but our show is November 4th at 3:30 pm at the Andheri Fun Cinemas theaters. Our lovely leading ladies, Lilette Dubey ("Monsoon Wedding", "Kal Ho Na Ho") and Sarita Joshi ("Baa Bahu Aur Baby") are both coming. Sarita aunty has seen the film and loved it, but I'm kinda nervous to see what Lilette will think.... hmm...

Anyhoo, I'll post more pics from the fest as we get into it. 

Leaving for India to attend the Mumbai Film Fest Today!

Well, the day has finally come! Off to Mumbai, the heart of Bollywood cinema for the Mumbai film festival! The last few weeks have been dizzying trying to get all the copies made for the various film festivals sent before I leave. For some reason, DHL has my freaking copy of the film stuck in Mumbai customs for the last 4 days, so I'm gonna have to figure that out when I land. 

We're also going to be doing some audio mixing work over there, and I can't wait to be able to relax for a few days before the fest starts. I'll post some pics and vids as they come. It'll be great to see both my beautiful leading ladies, Sarita Joshi, and Lilette Dubey again. I can't believe it's been 2 years!!

 

Bollywood Beats hits the Film Festival Circuit

THE BLOG

Hello World. This is my first post after the completion of the film. I can't believe my first and only post was done in 2006 and we are now complete and going to film festivals with the film!

Bollywood Beats was shot in Dallas and stars Sachin Bhatt (Bombay Dreams, The Ode), Lilette Dubey (Monsoon Wedding, Kal Ho Na Ho), Pooja Kumar (Bollywood Hero, Flavors), Sarita Joshi (Baa Bahu Aur Baby, the Guru), Mansi Patel (Pyar Ke Side Effects), and me. It's an extremely fun and light hearted film that really got audiences laughing when we premiered it at AFI Dallas 2009.

It's been a long journey from the film, from raising money, to casting, to actually shooting (which we did in 24 days), post production, and more. This film has had some major ups and downs, but I can't believe the kindness of people who just believed in the film 

enough to help make it happen. 

We're so excited that we have 4 festivals coming up where Bollywood Beats has been accepted. Our first festival is the Mumbai Film Festival that runs from October 29-November 5 (http://www.mumbaifilmfest.com). Then we go to Fayetville Arkansas for the 504 Film Festival from November 5-8, then NYC for the MIAAC Film Fest from November 11-15, and the St. Louis International Film Festival from Oct 12-22. 

     Oct 29- Nov 5th, 2009 (screening Date not announced)

          November 6-8, 2009 (screening Date not announced)

          Nov 13 (6 pm @ Quad Theater)

         November 22, 2009

I'll be adding pictures and info about this as we go. So check back and see us travel the globe with this great film. I really do hope it take us places.