A touch of India comes to Prague with three-day film festival

Prague’s Indian Film Festival is entering its 21st year this week, continuing to exhibit a selection of Indian cinema at Kino Světozor from tomorrow, Oct. 31, to Nov. 2. This year's festival coincides with the Indian celebration of Diwali (which occurs on the same day as Halloween). 

The Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham film, which depicts the celebrations associated with this event, will be one of the festival’s main titles. Released in 2001, the three-and-a-half-hour film won seven awards at the International Indian Film Academy Awards and also five prizes at the 47th Filmfare Awards. Director Karan Johar, a big name in Indian cinema, was nominated for the Queer Palm award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

This year’s festival will also feature Srikanth, a biographical drama about a blind boy who aspires to become president of India and eventually achieves success as a businessman and philanthropist. Another notable entry is Joram, a thriller focused on a rural man's struggles against corrupt authorities. 

Laapataa Ladies presents a narrative about two brides who are mistakenly switched on a train, while Crew—the first film of the week, showing on Oct. 31—is an action comedy involving stewardesses engaged in illegal activities. Notably, it features on Netflix.

Additionally, 12th Fail addresses the challenges faced by students in the context of systemic corruption. This will be the closing film of the festival, showing at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.

The festival will also include decorations reflective of Indian culture, food offerings from an Indian restaurant, and the traditional drink masala chai. A Bollywood dance party will take place at the Chapeau Rouge nightclub on Nov. 2, hosted by DJ Deepak.

A community of over 9,000 Indians resides in the Czech Republic, according to the Embassy of India.

After Europeans, Indians are one of the most numerous foreign populations in Czechia, with thousands of Indians working in fields related to business, IT, and computer science.