The Ninth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

223 APT9 Cinema Production still from Masaan 2015 / Director: Neeraj Ghaywan / Image courtesy: Pathé Productions APT9 features two such films — ‘New Bollywood’ film Kapoor and Sons 2016 and the independent production Margarita with a Straw 2014. These films are aimed at a broad audience, but feature homosexual and bisexual characters and non-traditional family lives. 1 Borrowing a lightheartedness from mainstream cinema, independent productions engage with realistic narratives, but revel in a sense of playfulness. Newton 2017 sits within the independent framework, but has a humorous sensibility usually only seen in the mainstream. The film deftly executes a fine-tuned critique of India’s democratic processes and regional conflicts, but is infused with comedy. In addition, ‘New Bollywood’ and independent films are drawing inspiration from regional cinema’s focus on local issues and stories. Hotel Salvation 2016 is driven by a universal story of ageing and complex family relationships within an idiosyncratically Indian setting. The story is set in the sacred city of Varanasi in the country’s north, a place of culturally significant Hindu pilgrimage and cremation sites. Hotel Salvation director Shubhashish Bhutiani observed in a 2017 interview that Indian cinema is less self-consciously outward-looking: ‘we are finally telling stories from our towns, our cities and our problems . . . There are cultures or subcultures on screen that you’ve never seen before’. 2 The rapidity of this change in contemporary Indian cinema is sparking more diversity and attracting new filmmakers and film styles to the art form, which, in turn, is giving rise to an exhilarating period of vivid cinema. If this dynamic period is sustained, it will stand amongst historical luminary cinematic movements in India. Rosie Hays Endnotes 1 Both films highlight the ongoing debate regarding LGBTIQ rights in India. According to the Indian Penal Code, sexual activities ‘against the order of nature’ are criminal acts; historically, this has included sex between partners in same-sex couples. Recent court cases have challenged the Code citing a right to privacy, while a recent petition has been lodged with the Supreme Court of India requesting that the Court declare that section of the Code unconstitutional. 2 Virat Nehru, ‘Hotel Salvation: An interview with director Shubhashish Bhutiani’, 4:3 , 16 June 2017, <https://fourthreefilm.com/2017/06/hotel- salvation-an-interview-with-director-shubhashish-bhutiani/>, viewed June 2018.