A couple of weeks back at the opening of the Asian Festival of First Films, I caught a gem of a film from India called Little Zizou, where Zizou refers to footballer Zidane. In the film, it refers to the lead boy who is hoping that Zidane comes to Mumbai. For lack of a better comparison, it’s India’s answer to Little Miss Sunshine – a dysfunctional family in a marginal community of India.

The film reminded me of a John Updike interview I read a long time ago, when asked what makes a good story, he said something to the effect that a good story has charm, funny moments and is always surprising. That in a nutshell was this English language film from India. It’s a simple story with heart … and when I came out of the film, I found myself asking why can’t we Singaporeans make films like that? I haven’t quite found the answer but maybe 2009 will surprise me.

Meanwhile, I hope this film is released in the theatres locally. My 2 cents is that everyone should go catch it.