Pryianka Chopra at gala premiere of What's Your Rashee?

The Toronto International Film Festival ended for me with Priyanka Chopra and the film What’s Your Rashee? on Saturday, September 19. I went to the press conference on Friday and was very lucky: Priyanka and director Ashutosh Gowariker answered my questions about women’s roles in Indian cinema at length and the moderator also jumped in and kept the discussion going. So, after interviewing Rani Mukherjee and Seema Biswas (who was here for the film Cooking with Stella), I got my story for Asian Woman Magazine.

I also had fun. I attended five South Asian Films (Dil Bole Hadippa, The Window, Cooking with Stella, Road Movie and What’s Your Rashee?); went to two private film parties (for Road, Movie and Cooking with Stella); interviewed three intelligent actresses; made loads of new friends; and even caused a “kafuffle” on the red carpet. I had worked the red carpet as a journalist for Dil Bole Hadippa, and a few days later walked down it as a guest (I was the guest of my good friend Mychael Danna, who wrote the music for Cooking with Stella). As I walked into the theatre with Mychael and the cast and crew, some journalists were overhead to mutter “what’s that journalist doing, walking into the theatre on the red carpet?”

All the films I saw were good in their own way. The Window is a small, lyrical film in the manner of Satyajit Ray. Road, Movie is charming and quirky: imagine Fellini in the Rajasthan desert. Dil Bole Hadippa is a rollercoaster ride. I totally recommend it. Rani Mukherjee is wonderful. What’s Your Rashee? showcases the talents of Priyanka Chopra who plays 12 roles (a girl from each sign of the Zodiac / Rashee — personally, as a Pisces, I think she got my sign right on!).The problem with this film is that it is waaayyyy too long. It might be a hit in India, though, where they are accustomed to long long Bollywood movies.

My favourite film was Cooking with Stella directed by Dilip Mehta, brother of Deepa Mehta. Unfortunately, it doesn’t open until March or I would say run out and see it. It’s about a Canadian couple who are posted to the Canadian High Commission in Delhi and the relationships they navigate with their cook (Stella, played by Seema Biswas) and nanny — who cook up a scheme to capitalize on their position. By strange coincidence, I lived with a friend on the Canadian High Commission grounds in Delhi in 2006, and she had a troublesome relationship with her cook. Moreover, I met the real-life couple who inspired the story for this film when I was there — they had just arrived in Delhi for their posting. So I felt in the grip of destiny when I went to the film and after-party with my friend Mychael Danna, who did (as usual) a fantastic job with the music. Life is strange …

Thanks again to my friends at FIlmi Cafe for use of image. It was fun running into you at TIFF!