Another powerful film on the rich-poor divide is Prashant Nair’s “Delhi in a Day” in the Film India Worldwide section. It is a dark comedy set in the sprawling South Delhi household of the noveau riche Ghambirs who are entertaining the son of a British business contact.
It is a rapid learning curve for young Jasper (Lee Williams), especially after he realises his money has been stolen. Here again the small talk among the servants is as candid as it is witty. So are the toffish ways of Mukund (Khulbushan Kharbanda) and Kalpana (Lillete Dubey) and even Kalpana’s dad (Victor Banerjee) is ill at ease in this setup.
Director Nair does an excellent job projecting the divide and except for somewhat weak middle it then picks up to end on a strongly satiric note. Debutante Anjali Patil steals the show supported by Lillete Dubey and a scarcely recognisable Victor Banerjee whom I last saw over two decades ago in “A Passage to India.”
Lee Williams is a Welsh actor and former model. Williams was the face of French Connection TV, CK Jeans, Sisley, and has worked as a model for designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Calvin Klein.
Lillete Dubey is a critically acclaimed Indian stage and film actress who has appeared in features such as "Monsoon Wedding", "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", "Vanity Fair", "My Brother Nikhil" as well as numerous stage productions that she has both directed and starred in.
Kulbhushan Kharbanda is a veteran of Indian cinema, having acted in 120+ films ranging from Bollywood blockbusters to "arthouse" and critically acclaimed work by directors such as Shyam Benegal, Mira Nair, and Deepa Mehta.
Victor Banerjee is an Indian actor of Bengali descent, working in Hindi, Bengali and English language films. He has worked for prominent directors like Jerry London, Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Mrinal Sen and David Lean.
Anjali Patil started her career at the age of 5 in performing arts as a dancer. A university gold medalist in Drama, she completed her post graduate diploma in design and direction from National School of Drama, New Delhi, in 2010.
Vidya Bhushan is a stage and film actor based in Delhi. After retiring from a civil service career, Vidya began acting full time.
Prashant Nair was born in India and raised in Europe, Africa and North America. He now resides in Paris. A former IT entrepreneur, his first short film “Max & Helena” was an official selection at 30+ international festivals and garnered several awards and nominations including the Bronze Palm at the Mexico Intl Festival and the Jury Prize at the Bend Film Festival.
© NOMAD PRODUCTIONS 2011