Oscar acclaimed films for cinema lovers
The Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (HTKGAF) and the newly launched premium English movie channel &Privé HD showcased some of the most acclaimed and award winning movies as a part of the festival this year for those who are not satisfied with the simple and crave for the alternate when it comes to films.
Prathyusha Agarwal, chief marketing officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited said, “The HTKGAF is one of the largest multicultural festivals that presents art for the nonconformist aficionados in the most distinctive manner. Completely in line with our brand philosophy of compelling audience to feel the other side, we at &Privé HD are thrilled to associate with it for its cinema vertical.” She further added, “Since inception, our aim has always been to create a community and drive conversations around fine cinema and hence this festival is the perfect fit for us to reach out to our audience. We presented an immersive movie viewing experience of films like Moonlight, Pele: Birth of a Legend, Her and the Oscar nominated The Post, which is definitely one of the more popular and acclaimed movies of the year.”
The first film to be showcased was Steven Spielberg’s The Post, starring actors Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. The story of Katharine Graham (Streep) who with her editor, Ben Bradlee (Hanks), races to catch up with the rival newspaper to expose a massive cover up of government secrets that spans three decades and four U.S. presidents. It received positive feedback from the audience who were present at the screening. Shyam Mohan a viewer said, “Meryl Streep outdoes everyone in the film, including herself. This could well be her best performance ever. Even the brilliant, seasoned Tom Hanks fades in comparison.”
The screening was followed by a panel discussion, moderated by film critic and editor, Mayank Shekhar, which consisted of author Asim Chabbra, filmmaker Ramesh Sharma, columnist at Hindustan Times Sujata Anandan and Executive Editor at Hindustan Times, Mumbai, Sachin Kalbag. The discussion ensued how there are hardly any path breaking films made on journalism by Indian filmmakers.
The next two films that were showcased were Her, a film that follows a man who falls in love with an artificial intelligence voice and Moonlight, the first film with an all-black cast and the first LGBT film which won an Oscar for Best Picture.
A discussion followed the screenings with filmmaker Anant Mahadevan, where Mahadevan pointed out the need for channels that can show quality world cinema. He said, “I learned filmmaking by watching films at various film societies. However, as times have changed and there are hardly any film societies around that show quality content, I think channels like &Privé HD will help to fill the gap that lack of film societies, have left for those who are passionate about films and filmmaking.”
The fourth film showcased was Pelé: Birth of a Legend, an American biographical film about the early life of Brazilian football legend Pelé. Sonam Karki from the audience said, “I’m a huge football fan and this film was something I had missed watching in the past because of my exams. Thanks to this screening, I finally got a chance to watch it on the big screen.”
On 5th February, &Privé HD launched an exclusive month-long property ‘The Winning Side’ showcasing Oscar-winning movies in the lead up to the Academy Awards. Through it the channel celebrates some of the spectacular cinematic stories on celluloid which are a testimony to the dedication to the art of filmmaking. &Privé HD will be showing 20 movies which have won 45 Oscars. Also, the channel has a line-up of movies for the year ahead along with some of the biggest Indian television premieres including that of The Post, Call Me By your Name, Molly’s Game, 7 Days in Entebbe, The Boy with The Top Knot, Roman J. Israel, Esq. and Marshall among others.
The HTKGAF is one of the largest multicultural festivals that presents art for the nonconformist aficionados. PRATHYUSHA AGARWAL, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, ZEE ENTERTAINMENT ENTERPRISES LIMITED