All Films
- Action & Adventure
- African American
- Animation
- Art Film
- Comedy
- Cult
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Environmental
- Everyday Heroes
- Family
- Female Filmmakers
- Film Festival in a Box
- Foreign
- Gay & Lesbian
- Home Movie
- Horror
- IndieFlix Classics
- IndieFlix Official Selections
- Live Performance
- Love Stinks
- Music Video
- Musical
- Reality
- Romance
- Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Silent
- Special Interest
- Sports
- Teens
- Television
- Thrillers
- Webseries
- Western
Creating Utsava
38 minutes Documentary / Special Interest
Behind the scenes of a Indian mythological themed dance-drama, created for a mainstream audience.
Intended Audience: Family
The mainstream western version of Indian performing arts is limited to Bombay cinema, often called ‘Bollywood’ Creating Utsava’ illustrates an attempt to propagate an often ignored part of Indian art, her sacred stories and spiritual foundation, now packaged into an accessible form.
In late 2005, The Taranga artist group performed a theatrical dance show drawing on ancient Indian sacred stories and history. The show covered four festivals, and explored the underlying mythology and significance of each festival. The content was then presented uniquely in the form of live music and dance. Taranga, has presented such shows for nearly 25 years, however mostly to a “culturally informed” or predominantly Indian audience.
For the first time, Taranga has brought their art to a mainstream western audience, and the documentary covers the entire process from start to finish.
I set out to capture an experience that many second generation Indian immigrants have, participating in cultural activities through both music, dance, and stage acting.
Creating a show for a mainstream audience has been a long-time goal of the group, and since 2005, many shows have since been performed.
- Directed by: Teju Prasad
- Written by: Teju Prasad
- Produced by: Teju Prasad
- Run Time: 38 minutes
- Release Date: 2006
-
Country:
United States of America
- Intended Audience: family
Written by Teju Prasad
Produced by Teju Prasad
Cast
Teju Prasad:
Loreen Stevens:
Josh Meanwhiles:
Chetan Bhatt:
Special thanks to the DeBaun auditorium (www.debaun.org)
Languages spoken: English, Kannada, and Tamil (w/ subtitles)