Patang

Melwood Screening Room: May 13 @ 3:30 PM 

Melwood Screening Room: May 16 @ 6:30 PM

Centerpiece Selection
Film Screening Sponsored by UPMC Health Plan
[Pre film reception by invitation only]

 

Passes not accepted on Opening/Closing Night. Please arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of start time to ensure availability of seating. Film schedule and Q & A's are subject to change.

2011/India/Director: Prashant Bhargava/93 min.
Cast: Seema Biswas, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sugandha Gard, Mukund Shukla (Language: Indian with English subtitles)
Festivals and Awards: Vancouver, Tribeca Film Festival
 
"The storytelling is effortlessly made part of the hypnotically beautiful visuals, and woven into a kaleidoscope of colors, faces,music and a little romance. Bhargava is masterful in the way he allows his story to emerge from his mosaic, instead of spelling it out by the numbers. Evokes the old and new Indias side by side as well as I've seen done." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

 

Ahmedabad’s glorious annual kite festival provides the backdrop for Patang, Indian-American director Prashant Bhargava’s metaphorical journey  to the meaning of “home.”  The story is centered around the homecoming of Jayesh (Mukund Shukla), a well-to-do uncle living in Delhi, and his daughter Priya (Sugandha Garg) who have travelled back to Jayesh’s hometown after a long absence.  Their arrival upends the lives of Jayesh’s extended family; including his mother (Seema Biswas), his hostile nephew Chakku Nawazuddin Siddiqui, his grandmother  (Pannaben Soni). It also stirs up the memory of his dead brother , whose absence weighs as heavy on the family the return of Jayesh.
Family dynamics and cultural contrasts between the city and the smaller town relatives are the roots of the tension in the visually stunning Patang.  The object of the festival is not as innocuous as it may seem at first to outsiders. However, the actions of the festivals participants mirror the  struggle for dominance and acknowledgment within the family. As the film unfolds, we learn that this simple sojourn to the kite festival is not Jayesh’s only motive for his visit. The importance of place, family, and of a family home are expertly explored.  Bhargava’s cinema verité style functions as a revelatory slice of life.