More than 50 feature, documentary, and short films premiered as part of the Sofia MENAR Film Festival 2026.
This year’s focus was Indian cinema, represented by five of its most awarded productions in recent years: the comedies English Vinglish and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, the star-studded 1983 featuring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Saqib Saleem, and Pankaj Tripathi, the Oscar-winning RRR: Rise, Roar, Revolt, and the classic Abhaas (Prologue to an Impossible Love).
The official India Night at the festival was particularly impressive. It took place at the Dom na kinoto on January 16, 2026. Before the screening of 1983, which tells the story of the Indian cricket team’s victory at the 1983 World Cup in London, the bilingual poetry collection Light Green Eyes by India’s ambassador to Bulgaria, H. E. Mr. Arun Kumar Sahu, was presented. The poems are written in English and Bulgarian, translated by the renowned writer Zdravka Evtimova. The book is published by "Academia Znanie" and is available online and at Helikon bookstores.
Before the discussion with Ambassador Sahu began, the chairwoman of the "Devam" Foundation, Dr. Mona Kaushik, symbolically draped him and Zdravka Evtimova with long scarves. In India, this symbolizes the opening of the "third eye," allowing one to see beyond the visible. Thanks to the foundation, an Indian film has once again been included in the festival program. Dr. Kaushik — a folklorist, cultural scholar, writer, and lecturer at the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" — has successfully partnered for over 10 years with the festival organizers, Zdravko Hadzhiyski and Angel Grigorov.
The poetry collection Light Green Eyes was written by Ambassador Sahu between 2022 and 2025. It explores themes of love, longing, struggle, separation, and loss. The audience was deeply impressed by three poems read in English by the ambassador and in Bulgarian by Yuliana Koeva from the embassy team. The emotions expressed are universal and resonate with people worldwide, yet they carry a distinctive atmosphere and style.
The film 1983, directed by Kabir Khan, followed this poetic introduction. It is a powerful story about the strength of the Indian spirit. The festival program describes it as: "In 1983, the Indian cricket team travels to the World Cup in London as complete underdogs. Amid numerous comedic situations in the British capital, the players become true heroes for their compatriots and formidable opponents for their rivals. Ranveer Singh’s portrayal of Kapil Dev is a career highlight, earning him dozens of awards for his performance as the captain of the Indian cricket team."
The film Abhaas (Prologue to an Impossible Love, 1997), directed by Bijaya Jena, explores human weakness and guilt. It was screened at Vlaykova Cinema on January 20, 2026, also preceded by a poetic reading from Light Green Eyes and other Hindi poems by Dr. Mona Kaushik, translated into Bulgarian by Yuliana Koeva.
Abhaas is both a poetic parable and a realistic drama about the pastoral paradise of the Indian village. Set among the lush green fields of Odisha, it presents a compelling story of an aristocratic family and the villagers — two facets of a fragile social environment. At the same time, it is a sensitive human drama that addresses taboo themes such as incest, adultery, lost youthful love, and abortion. All of this is portrayed with subtlety and spontaneity, allowing the characters full freedom to reveal both the best and worst of their human and spiritual nature.
The material was provided by the Embassy of the Republic of India in the Republic of Bulgaria. In the photo above: Zdravka Evtimova, translator of "Light Green Eyes", Ambassador Arun Kumar Sahu, and Yuliana Koeva from the embassy team.
