Habitat Film Festival

Screening Schedule

5th - 14th May, 2023

To register, please click on each film and fill in the necessary details.

Movies

16th September 2023



TumhaareBaare Mein
Director:

Manav Kaul

17th September 2023



Tumhaare Baare Mein
4:00pm, 6:00pm & 8:00pm
Director:

Manav Kaul

22nd September 2023



The Departed Dawn
07:00 pm
Director:

Victor Thoudam And Bimal Subedi

23rd September 2023



Golden Jubilee
04:00 pm & 07:00 pm
Director:

Saurabh Nayyar

24th September 2023



Siachen
04:00 pm & 07:00 pm
Director:

Makrand Deshpande

25th September 2023



The Proposal
07:00 pm
Director:

Abinash Sarma

26th September 2023



Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta
07:00 pm
Director:

Mohit Takalkar

27th September 2023



Indian Theatre
04:00 PM
Director:

Jabbar Patel

28th September 2023



Afterlies
07:00 pm
Director:

Faezeh Jalali

29th September 2023



The Verdict
07:00 pm
Director:

Akarsh Khurana

30th September 2023



Ee Gida, Aa Mara/ This Plant, That Tree
11:00 am, 12 noon & 01:30 pm
Director:

Sananda Mukhopadhyaya

Chippi, The Chipkali
11:00 am & 01:30 pm
Director:

Gertrude Trobinger

Dekh Behen 2
07:00 pm
Director:

Prerna Chawla & Shikha Talsania

1st October 2023



Namak
04:00 pm
Director:

Srinivas Beesetty

Maas
07:00 pm
Director:

Jyoti Dogra

IHC Theatre Festival 2023 Curtain Raiser. Tumhaare Baare Mein (Hindi /75 Mins) . Imagine going to a cafe and meeting your past and future selves over a cup of coffee. The play explores themes of relationships, voids, fulfilment, and fantasies. The characters are driven by their deepest desires. As they navigate the complexities of their relationships, they grapple with the voids that exist within them and the fantasies that they create to fill those gaps.

Tumhaare Baare Mein is set in a café, with six chairs and a screen where a few moments are seen in shadow play; in this space, three couples at various stages of their relationship are meeting—one pair has just connected on a dating site, the other two are experiencing the strains caused by their differences.  There is much discussion on the preference for hot or cold coffee and changing tastes, as though a romantic connection or distancing, as the case may be, is based on tiny choices.

Not much really ‘happens’ for most of the play, but there is a whimsical quality to the interactions between the couples.

Book Discussion. Tooti Hui Bikhari Hui / टूटी हुई बिखरी हुई by Manav Kaul. Pub: Hind Yugm.The book portrays the life and trials of a homosexual woman. It showcases the violence embedded in our society, through the love story of two women. The author will be in conversation with Shailesh Bharatwasi, Editor- Hind Yugm, about his latest book and other writings.

IHC Theatre Festival 2023 Ee Gida, Aa Mara/This Plant, That Tree . Suitable for 2 and 3-year-olds. Ranga Shankara is one of Bangalore's well known theatres.  It is run by Arundathi Nag, in remembrance of her late husband, Shankar Nag, who was a renowned actor in the Kannada film industry. AHA!’ is Ranga Shankara’s most ambitious programme to date, bringing the magic of theatre in all its aspects to children. Launched in 2006,AHA! has grown organically and continues to do so, adding programmes, dimensions, audiences, international collaborations and more, as one of the country’s most important and sustained theatre for children programmes.

IHC Theatre Festival 2023. Chippi, The Chipkali. Suitable for children above 4 years of age. Ranga Shankara is one of Bangalore's well known theatres.  It is run by Arundathi Nag, in remembrance of her late husband, Shankar Nag, who was a renowned actor in the Kannada film industry. AHA!’ is Ranga Shankara’s most ambitious programme to date, bringing the magic of theatre in all its aspects to children. Launched in 2006,AHA! has grown organically and continues to do so, adding programmes, dimensions, audiences, international collaborations and more, as one of the country’s most important and sustained theatre for children programmes.

IHC Theatre Festival 2023. The non-verbal play, The Departed Dawn, won in three categories, including Best Choreography and Best Actor in Lead Role (Male) - at META 2023 It was selected as one of the top 10 post-pandemic plays from almost 400 applications at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) in Delhi.Thoudam Victor Singh is a theatre practitioner based in Mantripukhri in Manipur. He has worked on several theatre productions and has also been a visiting faculty member to the centres of the National School of Drama in Sikkim and Tripura, and at the Manipur University of Culture. He has been the recipient of the Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship, the Junior Fellowship of the Ministry of Culture and the Serendipity Arts Grant for Theatre. Bimal Subedi, has worked with eminent directors and designers from his country and abroad and has designed and directed more than 15 plays, with a special focus on redefining Nepali theatre.

The production, The Departed Dawn, responds to the global refugee crisis and the plight of the displaced. It is drawn from the forgotten tragedy of the Lhotsampas, in which one lakh Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were driven out of Bhutan in the 1990s. Subedi has worked and written extensively about them. The play is non-verbal and does not name any ethnic group; instead the protagonists belong to the global milieu of homelessness.

IHC Theatre Festival 2023. The Proposal  (English /60 mins). The Proposal has been adapted from renowned playwright Anton Chekhov’s famous play, A Marriage Proposal. It is a farcical story that speaks about the tumultuous strain between two wealthy neighbours. The discontentment and lust within to increase their property and wealth induce them to the most straightforward way known to man - marriage.

 IHC Theatre Festival 2023. Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta. When we talk to one another, what are we really trying to say? The slipperiness and complexity of language gets a rigorous workout in this Marathi language play Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta. It is a high-concept romantic comedy on themes of language and communication. The play attempts to show how words can conceal and also how apparent banalities can carry value and meaning.

In a world where words are limited, love is put to the test. Aditya (Lalit Prabhakar) and Feroza (Mallika Singh), are a mismatched couple. He’s an idealistic musician, she’s a sensible lawyer. He thinks she’s too careerist, she thinks he’s just insecure because she earns more than him. But they love each other, in their own way. Then, the government passes a new law: from now on, everyone is limited to speaking 140 words per day. The so-called “Muskatdaabi / Antah: Shanti Law” threatens the basis of their relationship. Can they find a way to communicate their love in a world where words are scarce? Or will the Muskatdaabi Law tear them apart?

IHC Theatre Festival 2023. Afterlies Wri. & Dir. Faezeh Jalali. Afterlies is a comedy about - well, life, death and the afterlife. 3 old people in hospice/hospital beds argue about the afterlife, while battling for life and their beliefs. Each is proven wrong when they die and move to the afterlife. But life doesn’t turn out the way you want, neither does the afterlife.

NA

IHC Theatre Festival 2023 The Verdict (English /110 mins with interval) Written by Margaret May Hobbs. 

Premiered at the Prithvi Theatre Festival in Mumbai. Based on Barry Reed’s novel, ‘The Verdict’, it was turned into a film by Sidney Lumet, starring Paul Newman, James Mason and Charlotte Rampling, which bagged five Academy Awards.  Akarsh Khurana directed sports drama film Rashmi Rocket which stars Tapsee Pannu. His notable works are TVF Tripling (as a writer), Yeh Meri Family (actor), Mismatched (as a director) and Krrish (as a supporting screenplay writer). Featuring a star-cast of Adhaar Khurana, Aseem Hattangady, Digvijay Savant, Zafar Karachiwala, Zayn Khan and others. 

Akarsh Khurana has done a good job with the Indian adaptation of this iconic play. Whereas the original drama was set in Boston and took on the Church, Khurana places the action in Mumbai and takes on a Godman and his cronies.

Khurana's Anil D'Souza finds unforgivable medical lapses at a charitable hospital run with the 'blessings' of a well-connected Swamiji, and struggles to get justice for his client.

Besides the medical establishment, the play is also an indictment of the power corridors that tightly seal themselves shut to prevent any stench of a misdemeanour out.

One thing that stands out in Khurana's adaptation is the linguistic and cultural references that layer the drama with more relatabilitv. The characters are a microcosm reflecting Mumbai's cosmopolitanism. There's a Christian, a Marathi, a Bohra Muslim, a Bengali, among others. Khurana also adds a layer of immediacy to the drama by adding the Hindi national language debate as well as the issue of minority rights. All in all, the play is gripping, intelligent, and intense, and the conflicts presented in it are as relevant as they were when the original play opened.

IHC Theatre Festival 2023. Dekh Behen 2 Wri. Dilshad Edibam and Tahira Nath. Prod. . After more than 100 shows of the first part, the sequel finally opens in August 2023. Five years have passed since the first play, and one of the bridesmaids from Part 1 is getting married in Jaipur. It is a vegetarian, alcohol free wedding, filled with orthodox in-laws and judgmental guests. But the gang of girls is back and committed to having a good time. They're older, but probably not wiser. Retaining all the fun of the first, and dealing with new and pertinent issues, Dekh Behen 2 is a celebration of female friendship.

The jolly group of characters from the original, who have grown on you, return for the sequel. The story starts five years after the first one ended: bridesmaids Manpreet, Trisha, Riya, Mindy and Reema are getting ready once again, this time, for Kanupriya's wedding. But while there are new plot points and social issues that the sequel handles, there is a definite sameness that you can't ignore.

Even in the sequel, there is great chemistry between the actresses, the dialogue seems as conversational and smooth flowing as the original, with Tahira Nath Krishnan as the loud and foul-mouthed Manpreet and Aastha Arora as small-town bride Kanupriya shining brightly. And while a play that is written and directed by women ensures that the female experience is told well, some of the jokes seem forced, like the writers are trying hard to recreate the DEKH BEHEN magic sauce.

MaasWri. Dir. & Performed by Jyoti Dogra. Are you happy with the current version of yourself? Irrespective of our shape, gender or size, we find ourselves at the deep end of the shallow business of beauty. And often drown in the not so shallow waters of shame and self loathing, subjecting the body to all kinds of  violence. Violence that is subtle, layered and sur-prisingly funny! Funny because we recognise it spot on! Funny because it is ours collectively, even when it is intensely private. It’s funny until it’s not.

NA

IHC Theatre Festival 2023. Golden Jubilee.  This musical is a satirical take on the popular formulae of the golden era of Indian cinema. It follows two lovers, Rakesh and Ranjna. They first meet when Rakesh saves Ranjna from eve-teasers and they quickly fall in love. But a rich moneylender who wishes to marry Ranjna tries to create hurdles and misunderstandings in their love story. Their struggle to be together in the face of a gaping class divide forms the rest of the story.

The lead actor, Girish Sharma, playing Rakesh Kumar, a yesteryear superstar, is a delightful combination of Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar and Rajesh Khanna, with touches of Tragedy King Dilip Kumar and Jumping Jack Jeetendra.

From his bell-bottom trousers and flamboyant shirts to his acrobatic dance steps, Sharma does a perfect comic imitation of the stars who ruled the screens in the 1960s. The giggly heroine, Ranjana (Niketa Saraf who plays the role needs to have a more flattering wardrobe and hairstyle to portray yesteryear heroines) nimbly matches the hero’s steps and skips away after moments of affected flirtation—so like Asha Parekh bidding adieu to Rajesh Khanna with a coquettish 'Achcha to hum chalte hain' or Rajshree playing hide-and-seek with Biswajeet in verdant gardens and forests, singing 'Na yeh zameen thi, na  yeh aasman tha...tera mera pyaar yun hi jawaan tha'.

IHC Theatre Festival 2023. Siachen.  A survival drama about three Indian soldiers stuck on the Siachen Glacier - the highest, coldest battlefield on earth. After a catastrophic blizzard washes away everything in sight, they are left with no news from the base. The days that follow test their beliefs and their bonds as they wait in hope for an evacuation. Will they survive, and remain sane, before salvation comes - or will "General Glacier" have the final say?

Siachen, written by Aditya Rawal, Translated into Hindi by Raghav Dutt, and directed by the maverick Makarand Deshpande, captures the agony of being posted on the highest and coldest battlefield on earth, with a blizzard passing through it.

The storm rages outside and at the camp on Siachen glacier, the three men - Lieutenant Tanmay Bose (Zahan Kapoor), Lance Naik Anthony D'Souza (Chitransh) and Subedar Shabbir Naqvi (Niketan Sharma) - often engage in a battle of words. The audience can see that there is clearly a lot more going on than meets the eye. It is almost as if the storm outside has helped unleash their real emotions as well.

The storm and the weather conditions test their beliefs too. The dialogues lean heavily on dark humour, infusing and diffusing tension as the occasion demands. The soldiers' pasts have shaped their present but their future look. bleak as well. When Naqvi, who seems to be the only one holding on to the notion that someone will come to save them, keeps repeating and telling others 'sab best hoga', it is almost as if he is trying to convince himself first.

Some of the best scenes are reserved for when all three of them are on stage. Without giving much away, it is at the juncture at which imagination and reality, sanity and insanity meet that the play finds its real beat. The question at the heart of the play now also plagues the viewer, who sees the futility in risking so many human lives.

With the location remaining constant, it is up to the actors to deliver an engaging performance, which they do for the most part. Half an hour into the play and the drama picks up pace. Chitransh impresses as the disgruntled soldier and his performance in the latter half of the play is a delight to watch.

IHC Theatre Festival 2023. Indian Theatre (35mm/1988/English/Docu/100 mins). Continuing our series of screenings of classic films in original 35mm format. Collab. Directorate of Film Festivals. A comprehensive and extensively researched documentary on the plurality of pan Indian theatre traditions. Through conversations with accomplished theatre practitioners, the documentary provides rich insights for those studying theatre.

IHC Theatre Festival 2023 Namak (Hindi & Bhojpuri/35 mins). A Hindi adaptation of the English play Salt, written by Abhishek Majumdar, Namak revolves around a family of three women — a mother and two daughters — who are coping with the pandemic and its resulting shortcomings by telling each other stories and faking the food on their plate. It talks about how nationalism has been used to hide the incompetence of the government, and the price the poor and hungry pay for it.

 IHC Theatre Festival 2023 Curtain Raiser. Tumhaare Baare Mein. Imagine going to a cafe and meeting your past and future selves over a cup of coffee. The play explores themes of relationships, voids, fulfilment, and fantasies. The characters are driven by their deepest desires. As they navigate the complexities of their relationships, they grapple with the voids that exist within them and the fantasies that they create to fill those gaps.

Tumhaare Baare Mein is set in a café, with six chairs and a screen where a few moments are seen in shadow play; in this space, three couples at various stages of their relationship are meeting—one pair has just connected on a dating site, the other two are experiencing the strains caused by their differences.  There is much discussion on the preference for hot or cold coffee and changing tastes, as though a romantic connection or distancing, as the case may be, is based on tiny choices.

Not much really ‘happens’ for most of the play, but there is a whimsical quality to the interactions between the couples.