Postcard from the Venice Film Festival 2020
Published in Sommelier India October 2020
A contemplative Hindi-Punjabi film with a young wine-loving actor breaking new ground
All good sense advised not to travel in the time of Covid-19. Definitely not to Italy, and most definitely, not to a Film Festival, oh the crowds! But when good sense does not prevail, as sometimes in my case, there are wonderful surprises.
This time it was discovering “Meel Patthar” (Milestone) and Lakshvir Singh Saran, the 25-year-old Indian actor, the only one from the film team to make it to Venice from India in these difficult times. He “wowed” the crowds with his elegant entrance at Sala Darsena for the film premiere. Screened in the Orizzonti (Horizons) section of the 77th Venice Film Festival, the movie played to full audiences, in socially distanced seats on 3 September, 2020.
The story revolves around the life of a Punjabi truck driver (played by Suvinder Vicky) facing challenges, ageing, and survival. Will he lose his job to his young, admiring trainee, (played by Lakshvir)? Images linger long after immersing you in the setting: a chilly Punjab winter morning – the Sarpanch (elected head of a village council), a woman, enrobed in her voluminous shawl, guiding her team of burly Sardars. India’s cross cultural depictions enrich the movie – the trucker married to a woman from Sikkim, caring Kashmiri neighbours in an apartment block, Punjabi and Hindi cadences, interwoven.
Director Ivan Ayr with some extended family members in the trucking business, brings an authenticity to the plot. Without the determination, conviction and generosity of Kimsi Singh, the woman producer, the film would not have happened.
In this, his debut film, admiring and appreciating guidance from Director Ivan and lead actor Suvinder,
Lakshvir also relished the experience of driving a truck, something he doesn’t normally do! In an earlier avatar, as a student at Delhi University, he developed his true passion on the side, theatre. Eventually, with an Economics Honours degree under his belt, he took off for Mumbai and enrolled in the Mumbai Drama School. And the rest is history, or rather, a new history just beginning…
Influenced by mentors such as Keval Arora, advisor of the Kirori Mal college theatre society, “The Players”, Lakshvir is drawn to themes of social responsibility. He believes that films should be a “tool for activism”, not only entertainment. And that “this is the time for Art to speak up”. He admits it takes courage, but emphasises that the immense power of cinema in India should be better used.
Around Venice during the Film Festival, what did Lakshvir and his film buddies drink Prosecco, Prosecco and Prosecco, was the spontaneous response. That’s what the Italians do in Venice, morning noon and night.
Here I confess to my own Veneto wine excursions and preferences – a rich Valpolicella red before hearing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in the church of San Vidal; dining in Restorante da Raffaele on the Venice canal and downing the last of a mellow Merlot with yet another tiramisu; and, chilling with Cabernet at the Venice Jazz club while Federico belts out “Girl from Ipanema” on the piano on its Latin night. When back in Delhi, Lakshvir will revert to his preference for Sula’s white wines, while relaxing post dinner with his Mom, an artist, who prefers the reds, also from Sula Vineyards in Nashik.
What’s next on the agenda for Lakshvir? Cryptically, he admits to two months of shooting this November in Nashik. How could a wine enthusiast ask for a better location!
Geneva's Black Movie Festival
