Watch the story of India unfold at this film festival

From Bareilly Ki Barfi to Mukti Bhawan and Ajji, movies that chronicle the contemporary are being showcased at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj museum.

Picture this: You’re facing a large screen at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), surrounded by artefacts dating back to thousands of years. While you’d expect a historical drama to unravel, what plays is Bareilly Ki Barfi, a breezy rom-com about a free-spirited girl who breaks gender stereotypes in a small Indian town.

The 2017 film is one of seven lined-up for India And The World: The Changing Narrative, a three-day film festival hosted by the museum. It’s part of the events connected to its ongoing exhibition, India And The World: A History Through Nine Stories. The show chronicles important moments from India’s past in comparison with other parts of the world.

“I wanted to carry forward the theme of the world in sync by showcasing films with an Indian narrative but universal appeal,” says filmmaker and screenwriter Anuraadha Tewari, the festival’s curator.

While most festivals connected to history tend to screen older films and documentaries, Tewari has picked releases that chronicle contemporary India. Watch the award-winning Mukti Bhawan, about a man’s demand to die in the city of salvation, Varanasi; and Devashish Makhija’s Ajji, a dark and twisted take on Little Red Riding Hood.

There’s the Sanjay Mishra-starrer Kadvi Hawa, set in the drought-prone Bundelkhand; and Konkona Sen Sharma’s acclaimed A Death In The Gunj, a look at the complexities of masculinity. And there’s the 2001 epic Lagaan “a film that came closest to the Oscars and my tribute to the exhibition,” says Tewari.