Wednesday, 22 July, 7 pm

Feature film by Pan Nalin

Freida (Sarah-Jane Dias) has invited her best friends from her youth to join her in Goa. In the idyllic setting of this Indian coastal state, she plans to celebrate her wedding with them—much to everyone’s surprise. The wedding party couldn’t be more diverse: Suranjana (Sandhya Mridul) is a tough businesswoman and mother; Mad (Anushka Manchanda) is a musician struggling to find success; Nargis (Tannishtha Chatterjee) is a dedicated environmental activist; and Pam (Pavleen Gujral), once a top student, is now a housewife. They are all looked after by Freida’s housekeeper, Laxmi (Rajshri Deshpande). Although Freida hasn’t yet told her astonished friends who she’s going to marry, she doesn’t have to convince them to celebrate. And while everyone is speculating about the groom’s identity, the seven young women begin to philosophize wildly and exuberantly about everything under the sun—about men, sex, and their careers, about their little secrets, longings, and fears. The more they reveal about themselves in the process, the clearer it becomes to them that none of them has gotten what they had hoped for from life. The world had actually been wide open to them. But in a country where traditions and men call the shots, their dreams eventually fell by the wayside. Together, the friends make plans for how they might change their lives—unaware that their bond will soon be put to the test in a very different way by a dramatic event. 

Pan Nalin presents a captivating “female buddy movie.” What at first glance might seem like the Indian answer to films like Bridesmaids evolves into a wild emotional roller coaster and a powerful, moving statement that not only calls for “equal rights for all” but also stands for the power of friendship and solidarity and the importance of staying true to one’s convictions. In his film, Pan Nalin focuses on seven young women who challenge and confront time-honored traditions and social structures, representing a new and modern India on the rise, beyond all clichés and prejudices.

Angry Indian Goddesses won the Audience Award at the 13th Stuttgart Indian Film Festival in 2016.

India 2015, 104 min., original version with German subtitles