The Least of These, Review: More was needed In India’s turbulent political climate, making a true-story movie on the life and work of a Christian Missionary who was accused of forced conversions and brutally murdered, along with his two sons, might not be such a good idea. That it is patchily made proves, once again, that all true stories are not film material, and not everybody can impart cinematic strength to powerful subjects. It is true that Australian missionary Graham Staines was...

MIFF 2018, XI: 400 years of the Negro That is what it took for the black people in America to get civil rights. And almost prophetically, the then Attorney-General and brother of the President, Robert Kennedy predicted that America would have a black President in 40 years. But not before thousands had been brutalised, beaten and even killed, including leaders like Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., none of whom lived to be 40.   Oscar nominated documentary on the...

Budhia Singh—Born to Run, alias Duronto, Review: Marathon gone Running is good for health. Making films on running and runners is not a bad ploy for a production house to get a run for their money, or money for your run. Milking the genre without substantial innovation might not be such good idea, though, and the box-office run might be as short-lived as, or, in fact, much shorter than, the apparently aborted career of India’s child wonder, Budhia Singh. Based on a true story, Bu...

Gour Hari Dastaan/The Freedom File, Review: His-story Described in the press as a Kafkaesque black comedy when it was launched in 2011, Gour Hari Dastaan is based on a true story, of Gour Hari Das (now 85), with some Kafkaesque undertones, but very little or no black comedy. It cannot afford to be a comedy, let alone a black one, since it deals with the sensitive subject of the neglect and disregard suffered by those who participated in the struggle to rid India of British colonial rule. Brit...