Coming to VOD and screening once at the IFC Center tomorrow, Tuesday, April 15: BOMBAY MOVIE
Alexandra Eaton’s look at indie filmmaking in India made its debut at the New York Indian Film Festival last year. It also screened at Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival. FilmBuff now releases the doc on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Movies on Demand, and other platforms.
Lured to Bombay, the home of Bollywood, Indian director Raja Menon cut his teeth making forgettable mainstream features that left him dissatisfied and failed to reflect the world he saw outside his window. Inspired by the stories of the working poor around him, Menon sets out to make a film very different from the fare that has popularized Bollywood around the world, recruiting an Italian producer and securing a sympathetic investor to help him realize his vision. Eaton’s hourlong film follows the production, with both expected headaches – shooting in an overcrowded metropolis and dealing with temperamental actors – and unanticipated hurdles – dodgy crew members who try to bilk the filmmakers, but gets much more interesting when the film is completed. Unable to find a distributor, the investor fronts additional money to allow the filmmakers to release it themselves, only to face serious competition from a major Bollywood blockbuster comedy, declining cinema attendance, and a seemingly apathetic public, leading Menon to wonder if there’s room for indie films in a Bollywood country.
what (not) to doc 