The Indian Film Festival of New Zealand will hold its inaugural edition this year with veteran actor Waheeda Rehman as chief guest, opening with the 1966 classic Teesri Kasam and closing with the Meena Kumari-led Pakeezah. It marks the first time a dedicated Indian cinema festival of this scale has launched in New Zealand, built around two films tied closely to Rehman’s own six-decade career.
Key Takeaways
- Waheeda Rehman will attend the first Indian Film Festival of New Zealand as its guest of honour.
- Teesri Kasam (1966), starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman, opens the festival.
- Pakeezah (1972), the Kamal Amrohi classic featuring Meena Kumari, closes the festival — a film Rehman was originally cast in before the role went to Meena Kumari.
- The festival adds New Zealand to a growing list of countries hosting curated Hindi cinema retrospectives for the diaspora.
What Is the Indian Film Festival of New Zealand?
It’s a new cultural event aimed at bringing classic and contemporary Hindi cinema to New Zealand’s sizeable Indian diaspora. Organisers have chosen to anchor the first edition not around a recent blockbuster but around two films from Hindi cinema’s golden era, a decision that signals the festival’s intent to position itself as a serious cinema showcase rather than just another diaspora entertainment night.
New Zealand has one of the fastest-growing Indian-origin populations among Western countries, concentrated in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. A festival of this kind has been a long time coming, given how established Indian film festivals already are in the UK, Canada, Australia and the US.
Why Is Waheeda Rehman the Face of This Festival?
Waheeda Rehman is one of the last surviving legends of the era the Indian Film Festival is choosing to celebrate. Her career spans Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, Vijay Anand’s Guide, and dozens of films that shaped how Hindi cinema told stories of women navigating desire, ambition and social constraint.
Her presence at the opening isn’t symbolic dressing. Both bookend films of the festival intersect with her own history in ways that make the programming choice feel deliberate rather than convenient.
Her Teesri Kasam Connection
Teesri Kasam, directed by Basu Bhattacharya and produced by lyricist Shailendra, cast Rehman opposite Raj Kapoor as Hirabai, a travelling nautanki dancer. The film is now widely regarded as one of Hindi cinema’s most tender, least commercial masterpieces, despite performing poorly at the box office on release. It later won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film, and its reputation has only grown with each passing decade.
Her Pakeezah Connection
The Pakeezah link is the more poignant one. Rehman was reportedly the film’s original leading lady when Kamal Amrohi began shooting it in the mid-1950s, before production stalled for years and the role eventually went to Meena Kumari, who delivered what many still consider her career-defining performance as the courtesan Sahibjaan. Pakeezah released in 1972, just weeks before Meena Kumari’s death, and has since become a defining text of Muslim social cinema. You can read more about the film’s long and difficult production history on Wikipedia’s Pakeezah entry. Closing the Indian Film Festival with a film Rehman almost starred in, rather than one she did, is an unusually thoughtful curatorial choice.
How Are the Two Films Different?
Teesri Kasam and Pakeezah could not be more different in texture, even though both are period pieces rooted in performance and longing. Here’s a quick side-by-side for context.
| Detail | Teesri Kasam (Opening Film) | Pakeezah (Closing Film) |
| Release Year | 1966 | 1972 |
| Director | Basu Bhattacharya | Kamal Amrohi |
| Lead Cast | Raj Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman | Meena Kumari, Raaj Kumar, Ashok Kumar |
| Genre | Rural drama, romance | Muslim social, tragedy |
| Waheeda Rehman’s Role | Female lead (Hirabai) | Originally cast, later replaced |
Why Does This Matter for the Indian Diaspora in New Zealand?
For younger Indian-origin audiences abroad, festivals like this often function as an entry point into cinema their parents or grandparents grew up on. It’s one thing to stream a film at home; it’s another to watch a restored print of Pakeezah on a big screen with a live audience, especially with an actor connected to that world sitting in the same hall.
Community film festivals have also become quiet soft-power tools. Countries hosting them get cultural goodwill and tourism interest; India gets a platform to keep its classic cinema visible globally, at a time when streaming algorithms tend to bury anything made before 2000.
What Else Should You Know Before the Festival?
Details on exact dates, venues and ticketing for the Indian Film Festival are still being firmed up by organisers, and official confirmations are expected closer to the event. What is confirmed is the structural choice: a golden-era opening and closing, framed by one of the few living actors who can speak to both films from personal experience.
It’s worth noting that Rehman, now in her late eighties, rarely travels for festival appearances these days, which makes her confirmed attendance one of the bigger draws of this inaugural edition.
FAQ
When is the Indian Film Festival of New Zealand happening?
Organisers have not yet released final dates publicly; more details are expected as the festival’s official schedule is confirmed.
Which films are opening and closing the festival?
Teesri Kasam (1966) opens the Indian Film Festival, and Pakeezah (1972) closes it.
Was Waheeda Rehman originally cast in Pakeezah?
Yes, reports and film histories widely note that Rehman was Kamal Amrohi’s first choice for Pakeezah before the role eventually went to Meena Kumari.
Is this the first Indian film festival in New Zealand?
Yes, this is being billed as the inaugural edition of a dedicated Indian Film Festival in New Zealand.
Why is Waheeda Rehman significant to Hindi cinema history?
She starred in landmark films like Pyaasa, Guide, and Teesri Kasam across the 1950s and 60s, and remains one of the few actors from that generation still publicly active.
The Indian Film Festival’s first edition is shaping up as more than a nostalgia trip — it’s a considered tribute anchored by an actor whose own career quietly threads through both films on the bill. As more details emerge, expect this to become a fixture on the diaspora cultural calendar rather than a one-off event.