Philadelphia’s Artsploitation Films to Release the Banned-in-India Movie ‘Gandu’ in December

A scene from Gandu; the film has been banned in India

By A.D. AMOROSI

Cineastes and film lovers will have a merrier Christmas than planned now that Philadelphia’s Artsploitation Films – a brand new film company from the mind of Ray Murray from TLA Releasing and Video – is now scheduled to release the controversial Indian drama Gandu on DVD this December 18.

Ray Murray has been around the block in terms of all things cinematic. He was a projectionist at the legendary Philly film palace, South Street’s Theater of the Living Arts when John Waters screened Pink Flamingos there in 1972. Murray led the charge for one of the first indie video stores in the country with the now-defunct TLA Video chain in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York City. He produced and released films such as the cult classic Another Gay Movie in 2006.

The cover of Gandu

With all that art house clout, it’s no surprise that when Murray decided to open his own boutique video company, he’d call it Artsploitation and concentrate on only the choicest indie flicks to start his company. The first of these is the provocative Indian thrash metal hip-hop drama, Gandu. Directed by Bengali filmmaker Kaushik "Q" Mukherjee, the film is like a cheaply made Slumdog Millionaire, except instead of a game show, all of its hopes and dreams are attached to the rap business. Called a “transgressive, visually spectacular assault on the senses” by Time Out London, the harsh and vulgar film has also been compared to another Danny Boyle film Trainspotting in its flagrant dirty display of sex and drugs – the very things that got Gandu banned in its native country. Not exactly a Christmas film; see for yourselves on December 18.

Photos courtesy Artsploitation Films

Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 4:10 PM