The Russian Film Festival will be held in Mumbai at the Cinepolis Andheri Cinema from November 17th to 20th. Viewers in India will be able to see some of the most impressive Russian movies created over the past few years. The films will be shown at the festival free of charge, with subtitles in Hindi and English; animated films will be dubbed in English and have subtitles in Hindi. Russian Film Festival shows are organized by ROSKINO with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture.

While the Russian Film Festival is being held in India for the second consecutive year, this is the first time that the event is offline. Last year, one of the largest Indian VOD platforms organized a three-week, online Russian film festival which attracted almost 700 thousand viewers.

The comedy film “Russian Peasant”, directed by Klim Shipenko, tells the story of a wealthy businessman’s attempt to reform his egotistic son, Grisha. It is beloved by the Russian audience (it became the highest-grossing Russian film) and will certainly resonate with the Indian audience. The original plot combined with the beautiful performance of the actors will not leave the audience feeling indifferent. “Russian Peasant” is already racing around the international market. In 2021, the rights to the film were sold to several countries, including India and China, so India is likely to have its own “Indian Peasant” soon.

Another comedy film in the line-up for the Russian Film Festival is “Young Man” directed by Alexandr Fomin. It’s a story about an adventurous 30-year-old, Vanya, who is involved in a scam and pretends to be a high school student to win a contest worth millions of rubles.

In addition, viewers will see the family adventure drama, “Palma”, based on true events. At the center of the plot, there’s a friendship between a boy and a dog named Palma; also, there will be showings of the ballet drama “The Bolshoi”, a story about a young ballerina’s thorny path to success, and a full-length animated film “Fixies vs Crabots.”

General Director of ROSKINO Inna Shalyto, “Last year we organized the online Russian Film Festival in India for the first time and we’re happy to bring our project back. But this time, we’ll be showing Russian movies offline on the big screen. I would like to note that we are now presenting the Russian film industry on a large scale, not only to the general audience at the Russian Film Festival but also to the professional film industry community in India at a business event, a film market which begins on November 20th. Russian companies will bring more than 30 projects to the market, which may later appear on Indian TV channels and VOD platforms. India is an important partner for Russia in terms of cultural interaction. Indian film festivals are held annually in Moscow and cultural exchanges are carried out in other directions. We hope to expand the presence of Russian films in India and the Russian Film Festival is a good opportunity to introduce local viewers to our new movies in various genres. More than 60% of the viewership in India is young people up to 35 years old and the film line-up will be interesting both for this age category, as the main characters of these films are young people, and the older generation.”

The Line-Up of the Russian Film Festival in India:

The comedy film “Russian Peasant” directed by Klim Shipenko, 2019. The highest-grossing Russian movie ever. The movie tells the story of a spoiled rich kid, Grisha, whose father tries to reform him. One day, he comes to his senses after an accident and wakes up in…1860 in his master’s estate. Now he is a simple peasant without any ties or a smartphone, surrounded by serf peasants. Grisha’s path will not be easy. He will have a long way to go from being a spoiled child to a person who learns how to communicate properly with people, to appreciate life’s simple pleasures, and find true love. The film rights to “Russian Peasant” were acquired by several foreign countries, including China. A sequel to the movie is currently being filmed.

“Young Man” directed by Alexandr Fomin, 2022. It’s an adventure comedy about a conflict of generations. Vanya is in his thirties. Despite having obtained a gold medal at school and a red diploma from Moscow State University, he’s at rock bottom. His wife left him and he got fired. In a moment of desperation, Vanya learns that his cunning classmate, Kolya, has become a successful businessman and announced a competition for high school students, with a multi-million ruble prize fund. Vanya, who looks much younger than his age, decides to perform a scam. He shaves off his beard, forges a new identity, and goes to the competition with the confidence that life experience will easily overcome youth.

“Palma” directed by Alexandr Domogarov Jr., 2020. It’s a family adventure story based on true events taking place in 1974-1976 at Vnukovo airport. It’s a story about a shepherd dog named Palma who is forced to part with its owner. He flies abroad, and the faithful dog is left right on the airfield. Palma hides at the airport and meets the planes every day in the hope that the owner has returned. A nine-year-old boy, Nicholas, is also new to the airport. He lost his mother and moved in with his father, a pilot he barely knows. Palma becomes the boy’s soul mate and best friend.

“The Bolshoi” drama directed by Valeriy Todorovskiy, 2017. It’s a film about a young and talented dancer from a small mining town, Julia, who lands the chance of a lifetime. She gets noticed by a former ballet dancer who promises her a great future. However, to become a diamond, anyone, even the most outstanding diamond, needs to be shaped, and the way to the legendary stage of the Bolshoi Theatre for Julia lies through the walls of a ballet school, where an even more wayward teacher takes custody of the insubordinate, provincial girl. Turning into a prima ballerina requires incredible self-denial. More than 70 professional ballet artists took part in the film.

“Fixies vs Crabots” directed by Vasiko Bedoshvili, Oleg Uzhinov, and Ivan Pshonkin, 2019. The animated film is about Fixies — tiny, kind creatures that live in machines and devices, taking care of them. As they hide from people, there are only a few lucky humans in the world who get to interact with Fixies. There is a school for Fixies located in the laboratory of Professor Eugenius, but only two people know of its existence: a boy named Tom Thomas and a girl named Kate. But one day, elusive creatures appear at the lab, robots known as crabots. They spy on the Fixies and threaten their big secret.

Screening schedule at Cinepolis Andheri cinema

November 17th (Thursday)
19:00 – “Palma”

November 18th (Friday)
19:00 – “Russian Peasant”

November 19th (Saturday)
15:00 – “Fixies vs Crabots”
17:15 – “The Bolshoi”

November 20th (Sunday)
18:00– “Young Man”