The Financial Express
A slice of Bollywood in Israel The on-going Indian film festival in Israel is yet another indicator of the growing Indo-Israel cultural ties
PARUL CHANDRA ; IN TEL AVIV Posted online: Sunday, January 08, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
It isn't unusual to come across Israelis who seem to have some India link or the other, be it in Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial capital on the Mediterranean, Jerusalem, where the seat of government is, or in other cities of this tiny country of about 6.8 million people. Many have visited India, either as tourists—many of them as back-packers soon after completing their compulsory military conscription— or on business.
Nearly 40,000 Israeli tourists annually make their way to India, according to the latest estimates. So there is a certain fondness for India that comes through as they recall their India travels. Approximately 40,000 Israeli tourists annually make their way to India say latest estimates. Exposure to Indian culture also comes from the approximately 70,000 Indian Jews now settled in Israel who continue to maintain their cultural identity in the melting pot that is Israel.
Given the warmth and interest India and the Indian culture evokes among Israelis, the Indian embassy in Tel Aviv decided to organise a two-week long festival of Indian films. The festival, which began on January 5, will be on till January 18. Indian ambassador to Israel, Arun Kumar Singh, says, "We decided to organise such a festival as there is a lot of interest in Indian culture here." Care has been taken to bring to the Israeli audience not only Bollywood movies, but those from regional cinema as well.
And the festival is the first of its kind at least where Indian movies are concerned. An article in one of Israel's leading newspapers, The Jerusalem Post, notes, "India may have the largest film industry in the world but it's rare that Indian films are shown here in Israel." With growing Indo-Israeli ties, the time is opportune to expose Israelis to Indian movies.
There is already a cable channel in Israel that beams Indian movies 24x7 into Israeli homes for those who subscribe to it. And it is perhaps this channel, and the large Russian immigrant population in Israel, that explains the growing interest in Bollywood movies.
The festival will be showcasing films of Prakash Jha, Ketan Mehta, Aparna Sen and Mani Ratnam. Organised in collaboration with the ministry of foreign affairs, Israel, and the cinematheques at Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, it has brought to these Israeli cities eight Indian movies.
Apharan, The Rising and Being Cyrus were among the three inaugural movies at the festival, taking a bow in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, respectively. Others films include Tamil movie Mauna Ragam, Malayalam movie Vidheyan, Marathi movie Vastupurush and Bollywood movie Yahaan.
The film festival will give Israelis a glimpse into Indian culture and Bollywood. By the looks of it, the cultural ties between the countries are clearly on an upswing.