Day 785: University Town, Catch-Up & Independent Films!

University town (U-Town) is the new extension to the NUS (my alma mater) campus. It opened just last July and I hadn't been hearing quite fabulous things about it. Today I got to go there, to attend a film premiere by a bunch of students from NUS. In fact I had written about them once before here.

Anyway coming back to the University town, it was seriously amazing! I couldn't believe that there was all that space near the original campus! It seemed to be sprawling in all directions, filled with residential houses, a lot of eating outlets, an auditorium, "Mac rooms", research centers, playground, etc. etc., each buzzing with activity! I really liked the place!

A good friend of mine, who is currently doing her phD there, took me around the U-Town and we had a lovely time catching up over dinner as well. It's been really long since I last met her but everytime we meet, it's never like there's been a gap at all! Had a great time!

Then it was time for the movie itself. Titled Gauri, it was an hour long tale about the first semester of an overseas (Indian) student in NUS. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the film was executed. I think my Facebook comment post the premiere can be repeated here - "Really enjoyed Gauri, especially the perfect first half! Wonderful attempt by The Film Guys! Very convincing performances, fresh dialogues, beautiful cinematography and an excellent background score! Congratulations to the entire team! :)" The whole movie was shot inside one room, with pretty much no resources but it was quite engaging - truly good independent cinema!

After the premiere, I got back home, packed for Dhaka and watched yet another independent movie! This one is 15-min short film made by the fellow Filmie Fanatic I had written about here before. Titled "Amaranth", this was a poignant dialogue-less, simple tale of a cancer stricken girl and her positive attitude towards life. This film too had strong performances, very good cinematography and a simple but classy execution! Oh, and I must also say that I smiled when I saw that the protagonist was named after me! The director had mentioned this to me several months ago but it had completely skipped my mind when I was watching the movie. So when that popped up suddenly towards the end frame, it was a pleasant surprise! Needless to say, it was a very sweet gesture by him!

So yes, it was a lovely evening of U-Town, catching up with a dear friend and watching good independent films!

215 more to go.