August Number is 23

23. Bariwali (Bengali) (7/10)
Saw this film the second time. As always director Rituparno Ghosh impresses me. Kiron Kher is a lonely aged woman living on her own. Her husband died 2 days before her marriage. Her only confidants are her maid and her housekeeper. Things change when she allows a film shooting in her house. She gets drawn towards the director knowing very well that he is married and had an affair with the film actress ultimately of course to get heart broken in the end.

22. Tumhari Bina (Pakistan Short Film) (5/10)
This film deals with the desires of an older single woman who lives by herself in the house that she shared with her deceased brother. Her only other companion is her trusted gardener and the pleasures of the internet through which she plays her sinister games. A creepy film where you never expected the end.

21. Burnesroad Ki Nilofer (Pakistan Tv FIlm) (7/10)
I could have died laughing in this film. Reminded me of the days when we used to watch pakistani dramas. Nilofer is 17 yar ld who lives in a cramped flat in Pakistan with mother, father and 8 younger siblings. Beguiled by the soaps on television, she dreams of true love but has little chance to go out and find it or even to express herself in the presence of her parents. A hilarious film that gets a little serious towards the end but still very funny.

20. Midnight Lost & Found (Hindi Short Film) (7/10)
Arvind (Deepak Dobriyal) spends his nights reading Batman comics caged in behind iron bars at his lonely chemist shop in Bombay. A prostitute (Geetika Tyagi) stops every night to buy condoms, until their conversations help Arvind break free and find the superhero within. Excellent short and brilliant acting by both leads.

19. My Daughter the Terrorist (Sri Lanka Documentary) (5.5/10)
A very rare documentary of inside look into the lives of 2 girls of LTTE group whom the world calls as terrorists. This even-handed documentary sheds light on the reasons that the Tamil Tigers continue their bloody struggle for independence while questioning their tactics. Deep in guerrilla territory, two female Black Tigers train for theultimate mission. Its a personal choice to dcide who's right or wrong but the film is very hard hitting.

18. Beauty Parlor (Pakistan Short Film) (4.5/10)
Four faces, fur masks and 4 short stories. Two friends long for intimacies of a different kind, a to-be-bride longs for another while getting ready for her wedding, the ‘other woman’ struggles to define her existence via her relationship with her married lover and a physically challenged transvestite has dreams of a different kind.

17. Let's Talk (Indian English) (8/10)
Boman Irani's first feature film and what a fantastic acting debut on big screen. A wife is cheating on husband and has got pregnant now. She wants to tell her husband and is scared. The film shows her imagining 8 scenarios of how her husband could react to the news. From committing suicide to beating her up to just talking, these are few ways in which she thinks her husband would react. Awesome film. Must watch.