Robert Redford and his India connection

Hollywood icon Robert Redford passed away on September 16 peacefully in his sleep at his residence in Utah, USA at the age of 89.

A brilliant actor and an Oscar winning director, Redford was also a climate activist and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, the largest festival for independent cinema in the country.

Two films of Redford bear an Indian connection albeit indirectly. In 2017, Redford produced and starred in the movie Our Souls At Night in which he reunited on screen with actress Jane Fonda after 37 years.

The movie was directed by an Indian Ritesh Batra who made The Lunchbox in 2013. Readmore!

Then, there is another film of Redford titled The Legend of Bagger Vance which he directed himself. Starring Matt Damon and Will Smith in the lead, the film was based on the book The Legend of Bagger Vance: A novel of Golf and the Game of Life written by Steven Pressfield.

The book was heavily inspired by the Bhagvad Gita. Matt Damon plays the role of Ranulph Junah. a highly gifted golfer suffering from ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’ who turns into an alcoholic.

He is selected to represent his county against the leading two golfers of the time in an exhibition match. Redemption arrives in the form of Bagger Vance (Will Smith) who agrees to be his caddie.

While the title Bagger Vance is loosely rephrased from Bhagvad Gita, Matt Damon’s character Junah is a spinoff from the name of the Indian warrior Arjuna.

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