Review Fix Exclusive: Queens World Film Festival Coverage: Veena Rao Talks ‘Mumbai Mornings’

Review Fix chats with filmmaker Veena Rao who discusses her film “Mumbai Mornings,” set for at a run at this year’s summer screening session of the Queens World Film Festival.

For more on the film and the festival, click here.

About Veena Rao:

Veena Rao is a director and producer based in Brooklyn. Her films have screened at festivals worldwide, have been featured on publications such as The Atlantic, and National Geographic, and have aired on the Documentary Channel and Current TV. She is an alumna of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a member of Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, Film Fatales, and the New York Women in Film & Television Documentary Committee.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for your film?

Veena Rao: I went to Mumbai last summer with the intention of making a film. I came with a few ideas that fell through and then heard about Abbas’s story through my cousin’s friend who was on his running team. I met with him a couple of days later and was really inspired by his story. He was into the idea of a film, so I went to several early morning practices over the course of a couple of weeks and filmed his daily routine after practice. I was struck by Abbas’s love and dedication to running. Running represented freedom to him, and contrasted sharply with the long hours he spent working in a cramped space. I felt the contrasting realities of his world and the joy he found when he discovered running would be interesting to explore in a film.

Review Fix: What was the most challenging part of making it?

Rao: Unfortunately the one day I had set aside to film Abbas on the train is the day I got sick but knew it would be hard to get the shot during the week (it was Sunday so the train was pretty empty in comparison to how insanely crowded it gets during the week), so after projectile vomiting in the bathroom of a very sweet and accommodating teammate’s house, I got on the train and got the shot.

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Rao: I’d love the viewer to be inspired by Abbas and to come away thinking about their own passion and what it means to them.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of the festival?

Rao: I’m excited to be included in the festival and have an outdoor screening of the film in NYC.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Rao: I have a few documentary ideas in the works that I’m hoping to shoot in the fall if they fall into place, but nothing concrete yet.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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