Tributes at London Fest for Yash Chopra, Rituparno

The 16th London Asian Film Festival (LAFF) is scheduled to begin on June 1 and will pay tribute to Bollywood’s king of romance Yash Chopra and Bengali director Rituparno Ghosh. The film festival would also be attended by the late Yash-ji’s wife Pam Chopra who would attend an event dedicated to the work and life of her late husband.

According to a statement, the ‘Remembering of Yash Chopra’ will see Pam Chopra in a discussion with Rachel Dwyer, professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) which would be held on June 7.

This would be followed by a documentary short film screening which is written and directed by Vinky Singh, an award-winning Delhi-based documentary filmmaker. Named ‘The Master Stroke’, Vinky’s film delves into Yash Chopra’s use of the ‘Navarasa’ (the nine essential emotional themes that are the fundamental building blocks of Indian art) in timeless music which is the basis of his unforgettable films. The evening promises insight into his cinema and his family and a performance by Pam.

Actor Anupam Kher will also make a special appearance during the event, which would be held at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in London. He had worked with the late Yash Chopra in several movies like ‘Darr’, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, ‘Mohabbatein’ and ‘Lamhe’.

“The late Yash Chopra is regarded as the king of romance in Indian cinema who presented the notion of falling in love with a sense of aspiration, escapism and adventure. His love for Britain is evident in his iconic films like ‘Lamhe’ and ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ as he leaves behind a unique legacy of visual aesthetics that continue to inspire a new generation of filmmakers,” Pushpinder Chowdhry, organizer of the London Asian Film Festival, said in a statement.

The 15-day long film festival will also pay homage to the late Bengali award winning filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh who passed away last year due to a heart attack. Some of his works include films like ‘Unishe April’, ‘Dosar’ and ‘Chokher Bali’.

Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj will be attending LAFF this year where he would provide an exclusive sneak peek into his new film ‘Haider’. The movie is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ and stars ShahidKapur, Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu and Irrfan Khan. Set in the beautiful Kashmir valley, ‘Haider’ is set to complete the filmmaker’s trilogy of the Shakespearean adaptations namely ‘Maqbool’ (Macbeth) and ‘Omkara’ (Othello).

Apart from this, a special digital competition of five films will also be screened at LAFF to celebrate the shared heritage between Britain and India marking this year’s 400th anniversary of the beginning of formal relations between the two countries.