The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), which is scheduled to take place between August 12 to 20th this year, will feature a number of south Indian films including critically acclaimed Jai Bhim (Tamil), Pedro (Kannada), and Chavittu (Malayalam), among others.
Tamil movies like Jai Bhim, The Road to Kuthriyar, Perianayaki, Ayu, and Paraasakthi will be streaming at the film festival. Suriya starrer Jai Bhim premiered on Amazon Prime Video last year, coinciding with the festival of Deepavali and opened to positive responses from critics as well as the audience. The film is based on the story of a lawyer (Suriya), who fights to get justice for a tribal man falsely accused of robbery.
Helmed by Bharat Mirle, The Road to Kuthriyar starring actors Dhruv Athreye, Chinna Dorai and Parvathi Om, narrates the story of a wildlife researcher who is assigned the task of conducting a mammal survey at the Kodaikanal wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. Bala Murali Shingade directed Perianayaki, which features Jeyagowri Sivakumaran, is based on the life of Perianayaki, a 56-year-old immigrant from Sri Lanka. Helmed by Chathra Weeraman, Ayu takes off against the backdrop of a car accident, after which a pregnant woman discovers a deadly secret about her life. It stars Sandra Mack, Jagath Manuwama and Malini Fonseka.
Produced by Kannada actor and director Rishab Shetty and helmed by Natesh Hegde, Pedro, which explores themes of toxic masculinity, communalism as well as aspects of life in a remote village, is also part of the lineup. Kannada documentary Kanade, a documentary film on the lives of architects Shankar Kanade and Navnath Kanade will also be streamed as a part of the film festival.
The lineup also includes popular Hindi films like 83, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Dobaaraa, Jalsa, Laal Singh Chaddha, No Land’s Man, The Daughter, and The Miniaturist of Junagadh, among others. The lineup of Malayalam films include Chavittu, Kasiminte Kadal, Nisabdham, Paka, and Woman with a Movie Camera. Chavittu is set against the backdrop of a theatre company in Kerala. Helmed by Sajas Rahman and Shinos Rahman, the cast includes Arunlal, MP Rajesh, Akhil, Midhunlal, Suresh, Abit, Sreejesh, Aneesh Kottakkal, Majeed Haneefa, and Sanjay Sanker. Raghunath N B directorial Nisabdham tells the story of a mother and daughter and the relationship between them.
Paka, which is set in the backdrop of Wayanad, tracks the story of two families who have been killing one another for generations. The lead characters Anna and Johnny, who belong to these families, wish to let go of the rivalry. Meanwhile, in Woman with a Movie Camera, Mahitha, a media student and her journey towards documenting the complexities of the personal and social lives of women in Kerala takes centrestage.
Several actors including Samantha, Tamannaah, Abhishek Bachchan, Shefali Shah and Vaani Kapoor, among others will be attending IFFM.