Washington Hosts First South Asian Film Fest

The curtain came down on the first annual DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF) with the screening of Dev Anand's "Hum Dono," fully restored in color.

Attended by a host of celebrities from the Indian film industry, the June 1–3 festival sponsored by Ceasar Productions, kicked off with an exclusive opening night red carpet gala featuring Shyam Benegal's classic film, "Mammo."

Saturday night's highlight was Deepti Naval's directorial debut, "Do Paise ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane ki Baarish."

Other highlights of the weekend included a Shyam Bengal retrospective, acting and filmmaking workshops, short films directed by local artists, and the Washington, DC premiere of Indian American filmmaker Manan Singh Katohora's Bollywood style thriller, "9 Eleven."

Besides Benegal others attending the festival included Ketan Mehta, Manisha Koirala, Rajit Kapur, and Suneil Anand.