Aseem Chhabra, NY Indian Film Festival Director, and Film Journalist

Aseem Chhabra, NY Indian Film Festival Director, and Film Journalist

• Aseem Chhabra is the festival director of the New York Indian Film Festival.
• It’s the largest and the oldest Indian film festival in North America.

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Do we take movies for granted? For most people, movies are viewed as simple and somewhat frivolous forms of entertainment. By design, they are meant to provide entertainment to the masses, but is that all? Listen to Aseem Chhabra, NY Indian Film Festival Director, and Film Journalist talk about movies and Bollywood actors.

00:15- About Aseem Chhabra

• Aseem Chhabra is the festival director of the New York Indian Film Festival.
• It’s the largest and the oldest Indian film festival in North America.
• He is a film journalist based in New York City and New Delhi.
• He is an author of popular biographies on actors like Shashi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, and Priyanka Chopra.
• He’s also done voice-over work in the movie Sita Sings the Blues.

01:16- About New York Indian Film Festival

• There is an arts organization based in New York, it’s called the Indo-American Arts Council which is about 23 or 24 years old.
• It’s an umbrella arts organization that basically brings Indian arts in terms of cinema,  music, and dance, theater literature to the people of New York and beyond also in the US.
• The film festival is said to be the crown of the jewel.
• It’s a festival that brings to the people of New York the best of independent cinema from India in all languages.

25:30- About his childhood

•  I was born in Old Delhi.
• At a very early age, my father moved us to South Delhi.
• My parents technically came as refugees.
• My mother was from Kashmir after the partition, she and her family moved to Delhi because of the riots that were happening.
• My father’s family actually came from what is now Pakistan and made their home as the hundreds and thousands of refugees that came from what is also then called west Punjab.
• My parents without even realizing had a huge influence on my interest in arts and cinema.
• I took journalism from my dad and movies from my mom.

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You can connect with Aseem Chhabra- LinkedIn

Aseem Chhabra is the festival director of the New York Indian Film Festival, the largest and the oldest Indian festival in North America.

Aseem is a film journalist in New York City and New Delhi.  He has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mumbai Mirror, Rediff.com, The Hindu, The Hindustan Times, Mint, BBC.com, Quartz, Scroll, Newslaundry. He’s been a commentator on Indian cinema and popular culture on NPR, CNN, BBC, CBC, ABC’s ‘Good Morning America.’