10 films not to be missed at Mumbai Film Festival. Watch their trailers now.

Mumbai Film Festival has a lot of big films in world cinema playing this year. And the passes are Rs. 500! Chances are, few will get to see the big ones unless they are programmed at many many theatres. Fact, most of these films will or have released internationally soon enough. So you will find them available for streaming legally in the next few months. The same can’t often be said for Indian independent films. 

We pick 10 films for you that you must not miss at the Jio Mami With Star Mumbai Film Festival 2018, running from 25 – 31 October. And yes, they are all Indian films. 

1. Jonaki
Director: Aditya Vikram Sengupta
Synopsis: While Jonaki, an 80-year-old woman, searches for love in a strange world of decaying memories, her lover, now old and grey, returns to a world she is leaving behind.

2. Hamid
Director: Aijaz Khan
Synopsis: Set in Kashmir, Hamid is the story of an eight-year-old boy, who learns that 786 is God’s number and decides to try and reach out to God, by dialing this number. He wants to talk to his father, who his mother tells him has gone to Allah. One fine day, the phone call is answered.

3. Namdev Bhau: In Search of Silence
Director: Daria Gai
Synopsis: Chauffeur Namdev can’t take in the noise of Mumbai or his jabbering family anymore so he sets off on a quest for a fabled Himalayan retreat – Silent Valley. On the journey, he meets a chatterbox kid, who begins to show him a new perspective on life.

4. Buddha.MOV
Director: Kabir Mehta
Synopsis: Lured by the chance of being the protagonist of a documentary film, Buddha Dev, a 27 year old flamboyant cricketer from Goa, starts authorizing unrestricted access into the most private parts of his life.

5. Soni
Director: Ivan Ayr
Synopsis: The story of Soni, a young policewoman in Delhi, and her superintendent, Kalpana, who take on the growing crisis of violent crimes against women.

6. Mehsampur
Director: Kabir Singh Chowdhry
Synopsis: In his attempt to rekindle traumatic memory, a filmmaker pushes a fading musician and a disturbed actress to the edge. A docufiction/ mockumentary on Chamkila, a Punjabi composer and folk singer from the 1980s, who along with his wife and singing partner Amarjot used to sing songs based on village life, drug abuse, dowry and other such relevant issues.

7. Lovesick
Director: Ann S Kim, Priya Giri Desai
Synopsis: Dr. Suniti Solomon discovered HIV in India, helping thousands manage the disease. Through the stories of two of her patients, Lovesick explores the next phase of her significant career in this documentary.

8. Bulbul Can Sing
Director: Rima Das
A visceral coming-of-age drama about a young girl living in rural India, fighting her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is. 

9. Bodhi | Buddha
Director: Vinit Chandrasekharan
Synopsis: Transporting one to rural Maharashtra and the travails of the caste system, the story of a converted man digs the well of atonement for his wife and is pushed into it to discover life and death are equally parts mysterious and tragic and morality a thinly veiled beast.

10. The Field Guide To Evil 
Director: Ashim Ahluwalia (Indian segment)
Synopsis: A horror anthology with 8 short films by famed directors from across the world, Ahluwalia’s black & white short PALACE OF HORRORS, is set in 1913 in the jungles of Sunderbans.

BONUS FILM: 

11. Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota
Director: Vasan Bala. 
Synopsis: The film is about a young man quite literally born with the ability to feel no pain strikes out on a quest to vanquish 100 foes.

It won the Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award at the Toronto International Film Festival 2018. While the theatrical prospects of this film are bright, who doesn’t want to be the first to have seen it! And being the opening film, you have a good chance of getting in if you book in time.