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The 11th Annual New York Indian Film Festival kicked off in spectacular fashion on Wednesday night, May 4, with the Opening Night celebration which featured the U.S. Premiere of the Delhi-set comedy "Do Dooni Chaar," Disney's first live-action Hindi film. The star-studded red carpet premiere, held at Manhattan's prestigious Paris Theater, was attended by special guests Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh Kapoor along with writer/director Habib Faisal. Also attending the premiere were Aparna Sen, Madhur Jaffrey, Aditya Bhattacharya, Ajay Naidu, Samrat Chakrabarti, Meetu Chilana, Rehana Mirza, Pulitzer Prize winner Siddhartha Mukherjee, Sarita Choudhury, Ami Sheth, Poorna Jagannathan, and many other actors and filmmakers whose films will play at Nyiff through Closing Night on Sunday, May 8.

Following the screening of "Do Dooni Chaar" was a discussion with Faisal and the Kapoors moderated by festival director Aseem Chhabra which had the audience laughing throughout. A gala benefit dinner followed at the...

Washington, Aug 20 – Upcoming Indian-American actress Pooja Kumar says she met the challenge of portraying a single mother raising a teenager in her new film ‘Hiding Divya’, about the taboo of mental illness, by tapping into the fear of unknown.

‘There were plenty of challenges and emotions to deal with, especially with the type of character I was playing,’ she told Ians in an interview before the Friday release of South Asian director Rehana Mirza’s film in select Us markets.

‘Anger, sadness, and rebellion.

The red carpet premiere of Hiding Divya took place on Tuesday night, August 17, at the Big Cinemas Manhattan theater in New York City. There for the big event were writer/director Rehana Mirza, producer Rohi Mirza Pandya, and actors Pooja Kumar, Madhur Jaffrey, and Deep Katdare.

Hiding Divya is a film that takes a look at mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder and the effects it has on 3 generations of women. About the story of the film director Mizra told BollySpice, "The film has elements of dealing with mental illness but also is as much about family as anything else. It is about how to hold on to family while still holding on to yourself. The film is set in a small town in New Jersey. Linny (played by Pooja Kumar), the daughter of Divya (played by Madhur Jaffrey), left this town when she was sixteen and pregnant, and vowed never to return home.

For her first film as writer and director Rehana Mirza did not take the easy road but went all in to tell a story about mental illness and how it affects 3 generations of women in the South Asian community. Inspired by true stories Hiding Divya provides a rare, realistic and poignant glimpse into the lives of Divya Shah (Madhur Jaffrey) whose bipolar illness has been denied and covered up for years; her rebellious daughter, Linny (Pooja Kumar), who ran away from home as an unwed teen; and Linny's 16-year-old daughter, Jia (Madelaine Massey), whose emotional turmoil is buried under a veil of secrecy. The film is set to release this Friday and BollySpice got the chance to sit down with the director and hear about this intriguing film.

What is Hiding Divya about?

The film has elements of dealing with mental illness but also is as much about family as anything else.

Washington, Aug 8 – South Asian filmmaker Rehana Mirza has chosen to tackle the taboo of mental illness in her directorial feature debut ‘Hiding Divya’ and hopes to begin a dialogue with the community in America to not let silence take over and make it worse.

‘I think it begins a dialogue on what mental illness is,’ says Mirza of her writing and film that won much acclaim when it played at film festivals in New York, London, and other cities.

‘I think it shows how much worse it gets when you let silence take over,’.

Shot in New York City and New Jersey, Hiding Divya tells the story of three generations of women and the taboos created in the South Asian American community from mental illness in the family. Inspired by true stories, the English-language drama is the debut feature from sister filmmakers Rehana Mirza (writer/director) and Rohi Mirza Pandya (producer) and stars Pooja Kumar (Bollywood Hero, Sita Sings the Blues), Deep Katdare (American Desi), and veteran actress Madhur Jaffrey (Cotton Mary, Shakespeare-Wallah) as Divya. Hiding Divya opens in limited release in selected markets across the U.S. on August 20 and will open in New York at Big Cinemas Manhattan.

Synopsis:

Filmmaker Rehana Mirza tackles the taboo of mental illness in the South Asian American community in her writing and directorial feature debut. Hiding Divya provides a rare, realistic and poignant glimpse into the lives of three generations of women - Divya Shah (Madhur Jaffrey...