Film lovers in the city will get a chance to watch the critically-acclaimed Gaalibeeja (2014), the debut feature by noted painter Babu Eshwar Prasad, at the Pavilion, Cabral Yard, here on Wednesday.
The screening is part of the special package titled “Cinema from the sub-continent” conceptualised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation. Such movies are being screened intermittently as part of the “Artists’ Cinema” programme. A question and answer session will follow the screening of Gaalibeeja.
An extension of his canvas onto the cinema screen, the movie is known to film audiences as much for its arresting visuals and critique of modernity as for having baffled the Censor Board, said a release issued here.
With its sparse dialogue, existential concerns and fragmented non-linear narratives, the Kannada film is intended as a homage to the “road movie” genre with “the road itself as the protagonist”. It was initially denied a screening certificate after being deemed “too confusing”.
“Just as the seed travels in the wind, my movie is about a journey. I have always had this fascination with journeys. I have also been most attracted to road movies. The road movie is the ultimate ‘vehicle’ for a character on a journey of reflection and change,” said Mr. Prasad.
While it reflects the works of filmmakers Jim Jarmusch and Abbas Kiarostami, the film is, at its core, a dialogue with the iconic film Alice in the Cities (1977) by German auteur Wim Wenders – one of the first road movies Mr. Prasad saw. “I can never forget the impression it made on me,” said Mr. Prasad, who was first exposed to world cinema as a printmaking student at MSU-Baroda.
