New York – He was a Chicago-born director who explored his culture with a delicacy and poignancy that set his debut feature film “Patang” apart from any other experience, and within that art he sought to understand the world beyond his American birthplace. Prashant Bhargava passed away suddenly in New York City on May 16th, 2015, of undisclosed causes. He was 42 years old.
Filmmaker Prashant Bhargava
Photo credit: Kushi Films
I first met Prashant not through a face-to-face happenstance, but through his mother. It was at the opening night reception at the 2011 Chicago International Film Festival that this smallish women approach me, out of the blue, and asserted that she thought I was someone who was “important.” When I described what I was doing there, she thrust a flyer into my hand promoting “Patang,” making its Chicago debut at the festival. I attended the screening, and secured a interview date with Prashant.
Filmmaker Prashant Bhargava
Photo credit: Kushi Films
I first met Prashant not through a face-to-face happenstance, but through his mother. It was at the opening night reception at the 2011 Chicago International Film Festival that this smallish women approach me, out of the blue, and asserted that she thought I was someone who was “important.” When I described what I was doing there, she thrust a flyer into my hand promoting “Patang,” making its Chicago debut at the festival. I attended the screening, and secured a interview date with Prashant.
- 5/18/2015
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
For Chicago-born Indian-American Prashant Bhargava, his debut feature film Patang [The Kite] is a seven-year labor of love. Rooted in the memory of his own uncles fighting kites in the sky, the writer/director decided to fashion his tale of familial bonds around the northern Indian festival, Uttarayana. By utilizing the dueling of magnificent beauty and fierce warfare the thin paper fliers portray, Bhargava gives us a metaphorical entity to mimic the battle between brothers Umesh and Jayresh. Two boys with differing ambitions, their kinship in youth rooted in their love of cutting down as many kites as possible. Teammates in the endeavor, age soon made way for their opposing aspirations in business, a contentious point they would finally part ways on.
The eldest saw the true heart of Old Ahmedabad and looked to continue the family’s work in his homeland while the other dreamed of progress. So as Jayesh (Mukkund Shukla...
The eldest saw the true heart of Old Ahmedabad and looked to continue the family’s work in his homeland while the other dreamed of progress. So as Jayesh (Mukkund Shukla...
- 10/5/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Patang is Prashant Bhargava’s first feature film that was in the making for six years. His short film Sangam had premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004.
Patang was presented at the Berlinale Forum early this year and now has been selected to be part of World Narrative in Tribeca Film festival. An interview with Prashant Bhargava:
What was the starting point of the film Patang?
The seeds for the movie Patang were planted in 2005, when my trip to Ahmedabad coincided with the city’s annual kite festival. When I first witnessed the entire city on their rooftops, staring up at the sky, their kites dueling ferociously, dancing without inhibition, I knew I had to make this film.
Inspired by the spiritual energy of the festival, I returned for the next three years, documenting my experiences with over a hundred hours of video footage. Slowly immersing myself in...
Patang was presented at the Berlinale Forum early this year and now has been selected to be part of World Narrative in Tribeca Film festival. An interview with Prashant Bhargava:
What was the starting point of the film Patang?
The seeds for the movie Patang were planted in 2005, when my trip to Ahmedabad coincided with the city’s annual kite festival. When I first witnessed the entire city on their rooftops, staring up at the sky, their kites dueling ferociously, dancing without inhibition, I knew I had to make this film.
Inspired by the spiritual energy of the festival, I returned for the next three years, documenting my experiences with over a hundred hours of video footage. Slowly immersing myself in...
- 3/12/2011
- by Nandita Dutta
- DearCinema.com
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