VICE met up with the directors of Sacred Games, Netflix's first foray into originals in India. Veterans Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane explain their process to us.
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Anxious, out of work and without access to transport during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, migrant labourers in India’s metropolises decided to walk back home to their villages en masse. As news channels beamed heart-rending silhouettes of millions of men, women and children marching along national highways with their meagre belongings, it became plain that the lockdown had already drafted one of the most traumatic chapters in the nation's modern history.
Based on the poetry of R. Raj Rao, Bomgay is a collection of six vignettes that depict the underground and complex nature of the gay identity in urban India. Part Genet, part Bollywood, this film combines acidic verse and insightful imagery to reveal the emerging gay community in the post-liberalized India of the 1990s.
A very spellbinding story about the reel and real life of great old thespian Kanhaiyalal and his bygone era when Indian Cinema was at a nascent stage. The story tells about his inspiring journey from a confused, gullible youth to a mesmerizingly spontaneous actor. It also unfurls the turbulent phases of Kanhaiyalal's life where there is excessive alcoholism and the mysterious death of his son.
The journey from ashes to idols through the eyes of a teenager who has created many jobs in the process The documentary shows how a teenager decided to get rid of temple's waste by making idols from them and how few jail inmates became his helper in the process.
Somi is pregnant with her second child. A girl, she hopes. Together with her husband she prepares for this new phase of their parenthood. It means that their son has to go to school, but as an ex-Naxalite that is tough to achieve in contemporary India, where people like them are third-rate citizens. They lack the certificates and an opaque bureaucratic process doesn't help. Directors Isabella Rinaldi, Cristina Hanes and Arya Rothe of the NoCut Film Collective concentrate on Somi's close family ties, painting a portrait of ex-Naxalites in India. Once, Somi and her husband were communist rebels fighting for the rights of Indian tribes. However, to safeguard their family's welfare, they surrendered to the government in exchange for marginal compensation and simple accommodation.
Winner of 2 National Awards, Pancham Unmixed: Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai, takes an incisive look into the legendary composer, RD Burman's reflective artistry and buoyant-but-also-lonely inner being. Featuring a host of close friends, colleagues and admirers, the film evokes awe, admiration and nostalgia the way most of his music does, till date.
A thought provoking short film on Indian farmers told through clay sculptures made from barren farms of the farmers who have committed suicide.
In light of jailed activist Umar Khalid withdrawing his petition from the Supreme Court amid repeated adjournments, journalist Ravish Kumar captures the contours of Delhi in a video letter addressed to him. What comes out is a critical piece reflecting on the cowardice and the deafening silence of Delhi on the whole matter.
"Discover Dr Anil Prakash Joshi's Himalayan journey in 'A Son Of Himalaya". From rural roots to ecological visionary, witness his symphony of sustainability, GEP innovation, and the transformative power of nature's whispers.
"India" developed out of my three journeys to Pune in 2001, 2002 and 2004. I arrived in a forgein country, and felt surprisingly familiar in the foreign. There in the streets, walking among the people, surrounded by their movements, their gestures, by the colors, the light, the beauty. Small things awakened my attention, sometimes only a short glimpse, a hand movement, the color of a sari, a temple hidden in a courtyard. It was like a long hot bath that I took there in Pune's streets - something unique and very beautiful.
Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan looks to history and psychology as he delves into the possible reasons behind the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
Film made during the repressive days of the Emergency in India documents the 1974-75 uprising of the people of Bihar in Eastern India.
An attempt to engage with the historical, mythical and the contemporary worlds of the city of Pushkar
Family memories and personal art movingly portray author and motivational speaker Aisha Chaudhary's journey with an immune disorder and terminal illness.
Hailstorm is based in the Narmada valley in central India, an area with extremely low levels of groundwater. Farmers here battle for survival, pitched against the vagaries of climate change. Following the events of a freak hailstorm over four seasons, the film unfolds the vulnerability and precarity of those that are at the sharpest end of global capitalism’s rapacious greed and the furthest from its benefits.
Lured by the chance of being the protagonist of a documentary film, Buddha Dev, a 27 year old flamboyant cricketer from Goa, starts authorising unrestricted access into the most private parts of his life.
An exploration of the 'respectable' and 'immoral' stereotypes of women in Indian society told from the point of view of two striptease dancers in a Bombay cabaret.
I Am is a 2011 Indian anthology film by Onir. It consists of four short films: "Omar", "Afia", "Abhimanyu", and "Megha". Each film shares the common theme of fear and each is also based on real life stories. The film was financed by donations from more than 400 different people around the world, many of whom donated through social networking sites like Facebook. There are four stories but the characters are interwoven with each story. "Abhimanyu" is based on child abuse, "Omar" on gay rights, "Megha" is about Kashmiri Pandits and "Afia" deals with sperm donation. I Am was released with subtitles in all regions as six different languages are spoken in the film: Hindi, English, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and Kashmiri.
The inspiring story of a young Indian Muslim woman who trades her burka for dreams of playing on the Mumbai Senior Women's Cricket Team and how the harsh realities for women in her country creates an unexpected outcome for her own family, ultimately shattering and fueling aspirations.