In my dealings with Asian cinema, I have seen a number of strange, extreme and experimental films, but I have to admit “Mehsampur” left me quite perplexed, regarding both its nature (an experimental mockumentary one could say if the basic premise was not a real event) and its quality. Let us take things from the beginning though.

“Mehsampur” runs as part of the 9th edition of the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival, that runs at 15 cinemas, across London, Birmingham and Manchester, from 21st June to 1st July, with 27 films, including features and short films, in competition. It is the largest South Asian film festival in Europe. Buy your tickets via this website, at respective cinema box offices: http://londonindianfilmfestival.co.uk/

The film functions as a very strange documentary, that has an eccentric filmmaker named Devrath arriving to Punjab to make a movie about the popular folk-singing duo Amar Singh Chamkila...