Spotlight on Co-Founders Ketki Parikh, Amit Rana and the Chicago South Asian Film Festival
By Kavita Chhibber
Kavita’s note: The more involved I have become in the various South Asian film festivals, the more I have realized their immense impact and extraordinary contribution in showcasing films, filmmakers, actors and important conversations that would not see the light of day otherwise. That too on a shoestring budget with little support.
The unsung heroes are the founders, who dive off the deep end, often alone to start these festivals.
If they are lucky there may be some family support and some friends who come on board and help. Building a community takes years of hard work. This initiative is not for the weak of heart and certainly not for those who are not passionate about what they do.
It was about time to talk to the founders, to share the behind-the-scenes efforts in the hope that those who can, will help support these annual events in every which way.
Most founders of South Asian film festivals are individuals who have a passion for films and a compassion for all those filmmakers who want to present films that are thought-provoking and showcase subjects which would never be seen or spoken about otherwise. Often these films are made on a shoestring budget and the filmmakers, actors, writers have achieved that with little financial support. The festivals too are run on a shoestring budget, and by volunteers, all of whom have full time jobs, little kids, and other commitments.
I felt it was time to do a series on the humble faces behind the world of film festivals. The Chicago South Asian Film Festival (CSAFF) was the second festival I attended in 2019 when my involvement began. And what an eye opener it was.
A festival completely run by volunteers, CSAFF is fifteen years old. But the professional way it is run and the outstanding content it creates – be it films, celebrity attendance, panel discussions, after parties – you come away wondering, “How do they manage all this on a shoestring budget?”
The petite woman behind the festival is someone I call Pocket Hercules. Ketki Parikh, the co-founder of CSAFF, has phenomenal stamina, grace, and endless patience. She is just loving kindness personified. In the over two decades I have known Ketki Parikh, I have never seen her lose her cool. “If you retaliate, then you give the other person a second opportunity to again be nasty. There is no point to escalate anything unnecessarily. I think I inherited this nature from my mother. She was always calm, always happy under any circumstance. It is a good quality to have because then you don’t need to make an effort to be extra nice to people. It comes naturally. Of course, you don’t tolerate disrespect but both in personal and professional life, it pays to be kind and patient.”
Ketki’s parents were highly educated individuals who valued education tremendously and encouraged her to also study the classical arts. Her mom was from East Africa and had a Master’s degree. Her dad came from a poor family but won scholarships to pursue higher studies in Italy.
Ketki grew up in Mumbai in the early years and then moved to Ahmedabad, when the textile industry (where her father held a high position) started floundering. But in all these changes the one thing that remained constant was her parents’ support for Ketki to learn Bharatanatyam, to pursue singing, theater and beyond.
“I saw them cutting down on their own interests so that we could get the best of education. I went to a school where they had a lot of extracurricular activities and art was highly promoted. They would do things like take us to Doordarshan, the national television station, and we sang there. We were not allowed to see Bollywood films because those were formula films in those days. My father felt they were not appropriate, but he would take us to theater to see classical dances from other countries, and to watch good Hollywood films like the The Sound of Music. It was a very enriching childhood.”
In Ahmedabad, Ketki trained at the prestigious Darpana Academy founded by the legendary Mrinalini Sarabhai. “Imagine my parents encouraging me to go to Darpana after school and walk back at night around 9 pm.” Ketki was part of a group that was invited to the National School of Drama and that began her love of theater. It was after she got married to her husband Tushar, whose college friends were people like Paresh Rawal, Feroz Abbas Khan and Chandu Shah, that she fully immersed herself in the theatrical arts, attending the rehearsals and going to see their plays with her husband.
After a couple of years in Mumbai, Ketki and Tushar moved to Chicago with their infant son. She realized that the only things that were happening there were mega star shows and Ghazal concerts. “I really started feeling homesick and missing the theater scene.”
“I called Paresh and Chandu and told them how boring it was there in Chicago. My first love was theater and so a big part of my life was missing. It was then that Paresh said, ‘Well why don’t you bring plays to America?’ I said ‘I don’t know how to do that!’ But Chandu and Paresh both started encouraging me and then they started talking about what to name my company. It was Chandu who said, ‘Paresh’s company is called Angikam. Let’s name yours Vachikam.’ I said ‘What sort of a name is Vachikam?’ To which Chandu rightly said, ‘If you give your company a unique name, people will want to know what this Vachikam is.’ And he was right.”
“Initially I had done some fundraiser events that were non-profit. The first one was ‘Tumhari Amrita’ in 1992. That’s when I met Shabana Azmi and Faroukh Shaikh for the first time.”
“During that time some of my friends would help me but when you are creating a company that was for profit, you cannot ask people for free favors.”
“So I essentially became a one-woman army. Vachikam was created in 1995. Initially it was tough convincing people to come. I even told them, ‘If you don’t like the play, I’ll give you, your money back.’ I could have gone with the flow and done star shows but I wanted to bring something people had never seen before that would be high caliber and cater to a special audience.”
“I had already established friendships with all the stars back home, but it was still not easy when I started. There was no internet, no social media. I would have flyers printed, and mail them to people. I would ask those people to then give me the mailing addresses and contact numbers of 10-15 of their friends. That is how I created a database. It was a lot of work and by that time I had two kids. My husband was also working very hard trying to establish himself. He was my silent support. If I needed money he was there, and he never questioned me. I knew no matter what, I could always fall back on him for support. Plus it was all his friends who were coming so he had his interest as well and understood completely what I was trying to do.”
“The first play with Shabana and Faroukh was sold out. Everyone wants to meet stars, and these two were stellar actors on top of that. After that I brought high caliber artists and plays with Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher, Kirron Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Mallika Sarabhai, Paresh Rawal to name a few.”
“Then within that format, I also started bringing some plays that were not easy to sell, like Mallika Sarabhai’s plays which are different and always very meaningful but not necessarily light entertainment.”
I remember meeting Ketki when she came to Atlanta with Mallika who staged an incredible play – Sita’s Daughters. I think it was in 1990 that Mallika brought to stage Sita, Lord Ram’s long-suffering wife, and gave her a voice. Before that Mallika, who has been a fierce supporter of gender equality, interviewed many doctors who encouraged gender related abortions. Mallika, if I recall, had also gone to police stations to look into how policewomen abused incarcerated abused women. I recall being told that even in the USA women jails were more brutal than those housing men. Mallika also looked into rape testimonies with the help of an NGO. She studied various interpretations of the Ramayana to find reasons for the ill treatment of Sita. Women in a patriarchal society and women in Indian mythology have some startling similarities and not some that would necessarily make us proud.
I recall that the Q and A that I moderated was compelling and everyone in the audience was very engaged.
Ketki was brave enough to bring this and other thought-provoking plays with Mallika to the USA.
Another surprise decision was to bring the great actor Shekhar Sen to the USA. “Someone told me about Shekhar Sen and his phenomenal one act plays based on the lives of great men, like Tulsidas, Kabeer, Vivekanand and others like them. I was handed a CD to listen to and I put it in my car as I expected it to be a long CD.”
“One day I was going for a long drive and started playing the CD. Literally ten minutes into the play I was so mesmerized that I actually pulled over and called my husband. I told him I was going to meet Shekhar when I went to India and was going to bring him to perform in the USA.”
“It was a challenge because no one knew who Shekhar Sen was. It takes a very special kind of audience who are really immersed into theater to understand and appreciate mono acts. But Shekhar Sen is also such a wonderful human being, it shows in his performances. Each performance was such a hit that people would come and touch his feet in the aftermath. The legends and the performer who portrayed them merged into each other.”
“Another challenge was the huge sets of Feroz Abbas Khan’s play Mahatma versus Gandhi. They could not be sent by air, so we would quickly disassemble them, put them in vehicles and drive to the next venue since you always have shows on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I would see Naseeruddin Shah helping us, and it was so thoughtful. It is a lot of work coordinating and being the medium between local promoters and the artists.”
In between all this Ketki also started attending school to study diagnostic medicine. But she was very clear that her children came first. “My kids and I would come home at 4 pm from school. We would have a snack and do our homework and then they would help me cook and clean up. But one thing was clear. They came first. I remember I was to head a play tour for Naseeruddin Shah, and I noticed the grades were not up to the mark for one of my sons. I apologized to Naseer Bhai and put the tour on hold. Being a father himself, he understood and encouraged me to take care of my son and said that we could do the shows when it was convenient for me.”
“For my sons their stature didn’t matter. For them they were just uncles and aunties who were visiting and staying with us. I still remember this funny incident when my son went to Shabana ji who was staying with us and said that he was not pleased about the fact that whenever she comes for a visit, his mother has to work very hard! Now of course they have a close relationship with her, but we still laugh about it. My kids were involved and very proud of what I was doing. I would hear them talking about it to their teachers and friends.”
“You have to involve them, let them see what you are doing so they can also be part of the process. They have turned out fine. One is a doctor, and the other is doing very well in logistics.”
Ketki has also developed a great relationship with various universities and often coordinates speaking arrangements, for the South Asian students’ associations. One such special engagement was at Harvard. It was the performance of global icon Sonu Nigam in 2007 there to honor the appointment of Drew Faust, the first woman President of Harvard University. “I think we had given them 3 options and the Harvard Students Association chose Sonu Nigam. The back stories are not known to people. Harvard will not pay for airfare, and they often don’t pay fees to perform. They will pay for the hotel stay. Sonu ji could not bring his own musicians and had to perform with the student musicians at Harvard. We did a fundraiser to pay for his airfare. Initially there were hiccups but when he finally reached, he had a great time and gave a beautiful performance.”
Ketki is always looking to do something new, that would leave a legacy for future generations.
Ketki used to attend the local Chicago International Film Festival but would always be disappointed to find a random Indian film stashed away at a remote part of the theater. She had also been visiting New York to attend Aroon Shivdasani’s New York Indian Film Festival and then after 4 to 5 years of attending it, Ketki started thinking of starting one in Chicago. “I started asking people for advice. There weren’t many in my age group who had the time to volunteer. I knew for a film festival. I could not be a one-woman army. I wanted to create a team of people who were passionate about good films, and it was going to be an annual event. And there was a need for enthusiastic, young people to participate.”
Enter Amit Rana. Rana grew up partly in Bombay and then the Middle East. His maternal grandfather Dharam Pal Anand had a photography business which was called Paul Studios.
“He did a lot of photography for director Raj Khosla’s films like Do Raaste, took Rekha’s initial pictures for the movie Do Shikari and also financed a film which didn’t do well. I used to hear stories from my mom growing up that she had seen Raj Kapoor from a distance and had attended Randhir Kapoor’s wedding.”
Amit, however, was not exposed to any visits to movie sets or meeting actors as a kid. “Films to me at that time only meant having cable TV and watching them with family.”
Once he grew up Amit got interested in Hollywood movies. It was much later after he was in college that the art of filmmaking became interesting. He started directing plays as he liked the creative control it brought. He did spoofs of films, then moved to improv and sketches at Second City (one of the oldest and most famous improvisational theater companies in Chicago). “It was through that process that I kept my creative juices alive.”
Amit was part of the Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP), and they asked him if he would help them launch a cultural show in Chicago. Amit told them that he was interested in films, and he did not want to do a broad-based cultural show, but if they were open to it, he would like to do a film festival. NetIP told him they would give him a budget and that he needed to go find a team to work with him.
A friend who was on the board of a non-profit with Ketki told Amit she did a lot of theater plays and had a great track record in Chicago for excellence. She was also looking for someone to do a film festival with her. Amit met Ketki and realized what he thought was going to be a one-time festival was not on her agenda. She wanted an annual festival.
Amit decided to give it a shot and the very first year of the Chicago South Asian Film festival was a huge success. “Aparna Sen, Deepti Naval came, thanks to Ketki ji’s connections.“
Ketki adds that the first festival was held at the Chicago cultural center which did not have a proper theater, but the opening night took place there. The other screenings were held at a regular theater. Ketki had already created a network with filmmakers, directors and others when she would go to New York. She also had a network in India so because of these extensive connections they were able to get the films for screening.
Soon a nonprofit was formed. Today the Chicago South Asian film festival is among the most sought-after platforms by filmmakers to showcase their work.
Talking about the challenges, Amit Rana said that it is a volunteer-run not-for-profit organization. “We have done it for passion, while maintaining full time jobs. And given that, I think CSAFF is exceptionally well run with the budget that we have… and it is not a big one. I see a lot of reviews from filmmakers, students, and media that CSAFF is one of the better run festivals. I think we are so well run because every year we evaluate what is working for us. Jigar (Shah), our festival director, and I are from the corporate world and we respond to communications very quickly. And there is a professionalism with which we conduct ourselves. We also have a lot of young folks, and they know how to use technology.”
“We do try to bring in celebrities, but people come because of the outstanding films we screen.”
“The community aspect is very big and through CSAFF we have done a great job of bringing communities together – be it Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, the LGBTQ. Ketki ji, our festival director Jigar Shah and I are all open minded people who believe in building bridges and staying away from controversies.”
This has resulted in CSAFF getting a lot of support from these communities. CSAFF also collaborates with the appropriate communities to bring in an audience for regional films. “If there is a Gujarati film for instance, we will reach out to the Gujarati community for support. Lot of credit must go to the relationships we have forged thanks to Ketki ji. She has a large pool of celebrity friends. We have an Indian consultant Deepti D’Cunha who has been working with us since 2014. So we have connections in Bombay through her, which is especially helpful since all of us live in the USA. There is also word of mouth support from well-wishers like Shabana Azmi and others who will tell their peers to go to CSAFF as they know people in charge there.”
“Another thing that is important is that we showcase our festival in a warm and personable way. Chicago, unlike other cities, is very hospitable. New York for example has a reputation for being a tough city. Other cities have a transient population. Chicago has warmth and we make sure it feels like a family event and take care of everyone. I have been to the New York Indian Film Festival and found it to be very impersonal in the sense that I did not know where I was going. It all seemed disconnected. Nobody helped you. You were on your own. Chicago has managed to retain that warmth that makes you feel like home.”
“One of the most important things we found out was that the biggest audience is the independent filmmakers themselves. They are passionate about supporting each other… especially first-time filmmakers. They are excited to show their films at a big festival for the first time and they will bring a group of people with them comprising family and friends, some of whom may live in Chicago. If the theater has 100 seats, 60 will be filled by the filmmakers and their families.”
Even when the topics may be hard hitting or controversial CSAFF has made sure they present both sides of the stories. “We want to create an equal platform for all filmmakers without taking sides. I think the credit goes to the kind of films being made by the South Asian community. I see tremendous growth and sensitivity in the topics they have picked to show. They are definitely pushing boundaries.”
“I don’t think we have ever received anything where someone said ‘I am not going to come to your festival because you are showing such and such film’ or ‘why did you show such and such film?'”
“I think it is lovely to have such a liberal audience and when we have done a survey of the demographics, we find that most of our audience comes from higher income earning professionals who come to see content driven films that spark conversations.”
“Yes, a segment of people will come if there is a celebrity, but I think our larger audience is not Bollywood film watchers. And I know that filmmakers and audience members have continued their relationships outside of the festival and connected beyond the festival.”
“Meaningful conversations that take place in the Q and A after a film screening with the director or the actors are exciting. It is enthralling for me to see that the Chicago audience is very smart, intelligent and content loving.”
One of the big challenges for every independent film festival is lack of funding and South Asian film festivals are no better.
Ketki says, “Maybe we have not been very good at asking or exploring various avenues and getting films is now a bigger challenge. Earlier the directors or individual producers were the key decision makers, and they gave us the big films. Now these films are being bought by agents and big production houses who are demanding a screening fee. So now there are four layers to go through to get a film – production houses, agents, producers and directors. The production houses and agents see this as a business and return on investment. Earlier the producers and directors just wanted their films to be seen at our festival. Now it’s about getting as much exposure to make money. It also must align with their publicity strategy. So now we must go through so many layers to get to a film.”
“Thankfully there are so many up-and-coming film makers, and the content is so rich. We get great submissions where these layers are missing. But sometimes even the films that are submitted to us directly, people have started asking for screening fees.”
Amit adds his observations. “At least in Chicago, the corporates are first a business so they are always looking for returns on investment and so we have not been able to get big corporations to support us. And each year there is a fight to get sponsors. In the case of grants also, what I personally found out when we have applied is that in Chicago is you need to have some connections.”
“Film festivals are considered cultural platforms and the large number of questions they ask are geared towards checking what kind of social, or humanitarian impact have we had on the community at large.”
It is something all festivals need to follow up on because from what I have seen, the topics that are discussed through full length feature films, documentaries, short films and panel discussions as well as Q and A are all about social, human and animal rights issues.
When I pointed that out to Amit, he shared a story about the impact of a documentary screened in 2011.
“There was a documentary called Standing Still that we screened. It was based on the life of the father of the filmmaker who became paralyzed from the waist down. He was depressed for a long time but then decided to help others who were going through the same thing. The story was about how he ended up empowering others, while lying on his bed, writing through verbal commands. It was very inspiring. One of the members of the community loved the film so much, she wanted to do a second screening and raised money for the cause.”
“In 2013, our opening night movie was about child trafficking with the Chicago Foundation for women. They were copartners in then screening.”
“A lot of LGBTQ movies are partnered with Trikone. Have we raised a million dollars in sponsorship? No. But we have raised awareness that is far more important and that is really the intent of our festival.”
Ketki shared a story of a businessman who had never seen a movie and was just focused on his very successful business until he saw the movie 12th Fail and was so moved that he became a sponsor for the festival.
“Everything we do has a cost associated with it,” says Amit, “so post festival analysis becomes crucial. We have to take note of what we experienced, and have to gauge audience interest, bring back what worked, and look closely at what didn’t.”
There have been helpful collaborations with airlines in the past and this year it is the Sheraton that has stepped in. Hopefully there will be more in the future but what has been the most satisfying aspect for both Ketki and Amit is the fact that filmmakers are benefiting from the networking and collaboration beyond the festival.
The CSAFF is now being recognized by mainstream media, but Ketki says the festival still isn’t a priority. “With our venue change for this year’s festival which is going to be in the heart of downtown, we are that much closer to ABC, NBC etc. The Chicago International Film Festival used to happen at this venue, but they have moved elsewhere.”
“And yet I know that they will come and cover the festival only if nothing major is happening. And they never tell us if they are coming or not. For us what is most important is the continuous growth we see. We thought Covid would have a very huge detrimental impact. But last year was phenomenal. And we are seeing a lot of youngsters attending the festivals.”
What was the most impactful thing that stands out in their mind?
“It was in 2014, when we screened Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s two films. The spotlight film had people seated on the floor waiting to watch. Nawazuddin was not as big a star then as he is now, but it was obvious there were people who wanted to watch his films and listen to his thoughts,” says Amit.
“At the end a very interesting Q and A happened. People wanted to listen to every word Nawazuddin had to say. But that was not what touched me. It was when I was clearing the theater that a middle-aged man came to me and said ‘I have lived in the United States for at least close to 50 years and I had lost faith in all Indian events. But you have reinstated my faith.’ And he walked away. I felt this gratitude that we have been able to create a space where the Indian community can come, have a wonderful experience, not only with entertainment but also what hits your senses intellectually or emotionally. Every audience member leaves this way every year. It sets an example of what an event can be when a community comes together to support each other and make a difference.”
For Ketki, all the relentless hard work has always been with the intention of educating future generations who live outside of their parent’s birth countries.
“I used to always wonder how we will pass on the rich culture, the values taught through the stories. But seeing the large and increasing number of youngsters who have started coming in to attend our festival, I am finally very excited that all our work has not been in vain.”
The Chicago South Asian Film Festival runs from 19-22 September. You can find more information at https://www.csaff.org/. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.
Special thanks to the CSAFF team and all respective photographers for the pictures in this article.