8th Indian Film Fest Pushes Boundaries

A poverty-stricken villager travels across India to get to his daughter's wedding. A Mumbai housemaid whose employer films her, turning their fraught relationship into a documentary. These are the kinds of stories, from sweeping to intimate, that infuse the 8th Annual Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival with heart, drama and plenty of edge. The fest runs through tomorrow at theaters all over Manhattan. The fest's anchoring piece is the much-buzzed-about Slumdog Millionaire, the rags-to-riches story of Jamal (Dev Patel), who leaves his slum and winds up on India's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, watching his potential jackpot mount as his country looks on. Despite the game-show premise, the film's no puff piece: It comes from the twisted brain of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later's Danny Boyle. (tonight, 7PM, ImaginAsian Theater at 239 E. 59th St.; tickets here)