The San Diego Museum of Art is currently hosting an exhibit called Epic Tales From Ancient India. It is also running an Indian film series to complement its collection of Indian paintings.
India produces more movies than any other country, including the U.S. The Epic Tales Film Screenings at the San Diego Museum of Art serve up a diverse collection of Indian cinema. You can find the 1958 Satyajit Ray classic "The Music Room" as well as Mira Nair’s contemporary "Monsoon Wedding."
"Monsoon Wedding" kicks off the series at 8 p.m., Friday inside the Copley Auditorium. It’s a wonderful and easily accessible entry into Indian film if you have never sampled any before. And hopefully, it will whet your appetite to return for more throughout the summer. If you are familiar with Indian cinema, the series offers a great opportunity to see these films on a big screen, and some of them outdoors on the lawn.
If you are new to Indian cinema, be aware that the films tend to have long run times and I recommend bringing a picnic basket of Indian food for the outdoor screenings. That is really the best way to enjoy these films.
The Epic Tales from Ancient India exhibit features more than 90 ancient Indian watercolor paintings from the museum's Edwin Binney Collection.
And just to give you a heads up, I will be co-hosting with Film Geeks SD and Moviewallas Podcast a Bollywood film series starting in July at Cinema Under the Stars, so you'll have plenty of Indian cinema to choose from this summer.
SDMA Films:
"Monsoon Wedding" (2001)
Friday, June 29, 8 p.m. at Copley Auditorium at SDMA — "Monsoon Wedding" centers on a multi-day Punjabi wedding where romantic entanglements and family tensions provide for both comedy and drama.
"Mughal-e-azam" (1960)
Friday, July 27, 8 p.m. at Copley Auditorium at SDMA — One of the most popular romantic historical epics in Bollywood history and at the time of its production, was the most expensive Indian film ever made.
SDMA Screen on the Green film series:
"The Lunchbox" (2013)
Thursday, Aug. 2, film starts at sundown at Botanical Garden lawn — Ritesh Batra film looks to the famously efficient lunchbox delivery system in Mumbai and considers what happens when a mistaken delivery brings a young housewife and an older man together through notes exchanged in the lunchbox.
"Original Copy" (2015)
Thursday, Aug. 9, film starts at sundown at Botanical Garden Lawn — A documentary about one of the last film poster muralists working in Mumbai.
"The Music Room" (1958)
Thursday, Aug. 16, the film starts at sundown at Botanical Garden Lawn — Satyajit Ray helped bring Indian cinema to world acclaim. "The Music Room" looks to aging aristocrat who throws elaborate musical concerts and dance performances in his crumbling mansion.
"Nil Battey Sannata" (2015)
Thursday, Aug. 23, film starts at sundown at Botanical Garden Lawn — A single mother decides to enroll as a student in her daughter’s school in order to inspire her to higher achievement in math. Of course, there are complications.
"Paheli" (2005)
Thursday, Aug. 30, film starts at sundown at Botanical Garden Lawn — This film is inspired by a folk tale about a ghost that falls in love with a newly married bride.
