NAYA DAUR
India/1957/173min/35mm LA Premiere
ArcLight Hollywood
Sunday, April 26th, 2009, 3:00 PM
http://indianfilmfestival.org/eventsdesc.php?eid=19
One of the great Indian filmmakers, B.R. Chopra was famous for making hit Bollywood musicals with socially relevant themes. NAYA DAUR is arguably his most famous work, as it tackled the conflict between traditional Gandhian ideals and modern technology. This theme was particularly poignant when the film was made, as it coincided with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s initiatives promoting economic planning and rural community development and continues to have relevance today, as technology becomes increasingly integrated into all facets of modern life. Mr. Chopra died in November 2008 leaving a legacy of great hits like KANOON, GUMRAH, HUMRAAZ and THE BURNING TRAIN.
Shankar is a horse-carriage driver in a small, idyllic village where the majority of the villagers, including Shankar’s best friend Krishna, work for a kind-hearted businessman at his timber factory. When the businessman goes on a religious pilgrimage, his aristocratic son Kundun takes over and replaces the factory’s workers with a machine. With half the village unemployed, the balance of their simple existence is shattered. We see this mirrored in Shankar’s shattered relationship with Krishna, when both fall in love with the same woman Rajni. Shankar wins Rajni’s heart, leading a furious Krishna to conspire to bring a bus to the village, putting Shankar and his colleagues out of work as well. Refusing to beg, Shankar challenges Kundun to a race between horse-carriage and bus to the hilltop temple, in which the loser has to leave the village.
The seventh annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) will take place on April 21-26 at ArcLight Hollywood, a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Los Angeles. This year’s festival offers films for everyone: indie films, Bollywood musicals, revealing documentaries, visually stunning animation, environmental films, comedies. You’re sure to find an entertaining and yet unseen film every day of the festival. Make sure to check out the IFFLA website, http://www.indianfilmfestival.org, for a complete list and schedule. Individual tickets are available at the ArcLight Hollywood box office and at http://www.arclightcinemas.com.
