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2007, Indian Cinema in the Year of Anurag Kashyap
Jean-Pierre Melville was there. A full decade before the ‘there’ would be christened La Nouvelle Vague [French New Wave Cinema]. Though released on April 22nd 1949, Melville was filming his debut feature Le Silence de la Mer in 1947 in methods that he himself later enthusiastically acceded as the New Wave aesthetics - “…natural location, non-synchronized shooting, fast film stock, small crew and Henri Decae”, a year before Alexandre Astruc’s ‘The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: The Camera-Stylo’ appeared in L’Ecran Francais on March 30th 1948. Few years before Andre Bazin brought out the inaugural issue of Cahiers du Cinema in 1951. Much before two pioneering, seminal rant-of-articles published in the same issue #31 of Cahiers du Cinema by future-filmmakers – Francois Truffaut’s ‘A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema’ and Jacques Rivette’s ‘The Age of Directors’.
Melville quietly, & independently, continued making his trend-setting films, while allowing Bazin & his Famous-Five-Critics of Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol & Eric Rohmer to reflect on the cinema through their pen-as-camera & vice-versa when they were making their first few Short Films, paving the path for an environment that would appreciate & contribute to this New Cinema.
In what is widely accepted as the starting point, Claude Chabrol officially kick-started the birth of the single-most-influential movement– the French New Wave Cinema – with the release of his debut feature [neither believed, nor invested in, Short Films] Le Beau Serge on February 11th 1959. Chabrol followed it up with his 2nd feature Les Cousins on March 11th 1959.
This double-release of Chabrol’s films were supported by Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows [June 3rd 1959] & the immediate next week’s Alain Resnais-directed Hiroshima Mon Amour [June 10th 1959]. In an unprecedented happenstance Claude Chabrol [whose films started filming from December 1957 onwards] released his 3rd feature of the year, A Double Tour on December 4th 1959. Debut, sophomore & the third feature all in the same calendar year! The record-breaking enthusiastic response to Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, released on March 16th 1960, would seal New Wave’s on-coming for posterity. [as an aside the tireless Chabrol released his fourth, Les Bonnes Femmes on April 22nd 1960]
Shohei Imamura, a leading figure of the Japanese New Wave of the 60s, had earlier in the previous year of 1958 had emulated this un-intended achievement when he released his first three features in the same calendar year but ended-up disowning them in his later filmmaking years.
Anurag Kashyap’s foray into directing films has been as obstacle-ridden as has his earlier vocation, of screenwriting for other filmmakers, been smooth-sailing. His chronological debut feature Paanch (2003) is yet to be released. And as soon as Black Friday’s release was stayed in January 2005, Anurag Kashyap was hailed, condescendingly, as a jinxed filmmaker, & probably adviced to stick to Screenwriting/dialogue-writing. To make matters worse Anurag Kashyap’s third, the 80%-complete-before-getting-folded Gulal, in his own words makes him the director of “2.8 films”. He had become the Greatest Unreleased Filmmaker – you want a Banned film, you’ve got Black Friday. A cult, underground film (on the merit of the Censor refusing to grant Censure), you’ve got Paanch. An incomplete film, though complete in its filling-in of the missing 20% by his admiring audience, you’ve got Gulal. Legitimacy? Patrons paying for the film in it’s release? Not yet. That was until 2006, & was about to change.
Come 2007, a year UNESCO officially designates among other myriad things as the Year of the Dolphin, Anurag Kashyap chooses to side with the persistent Penguins, & succeeds in getting not one but three of his films released in the same year – Black Friday on February 9th 2007, No Smoking on October 26th 2007, & The Return of Hanuman on December 28th 2007. Deservedly, reams have been dedicated to the influence of the two films while the third marks a departure, into the terrain of Animated-Features, for the filmmaker & to his audience. Between these three films have come what’s probably the largest number of Independent films on the Indian Screen in decades, leading the way for aspiring filmmakers to continue aspiring a cinema they can truly be proud of.
I shall enumerate few of them but in a list that I choose to run in preferential order as opposed to the sanitized ones in alphabetical order or the ones in no particular order. Here’s my list:
1. Black Friday – Anurag Kashyap
2. Tamil M.A. (Katradhu Thamizh) - Ram
3. Manorama Six Feet Under – Navdeep ‘Kumar’ Singh
4. Paruthiveeran – Ameer Sultan
5. No Smoking – Anurag Kashyap
6. Johnny Gaddaar – Sriram Raghavan
7. Khoya Khoya Chand - Sudhir Mishra
8. Eklavya – Vidhu Vinod Chopra
9. Taare Zameen Par - Aamir Khan
10. a four-way tie between
Nishabd - Ram Gopal Verma
Sivaji - The Boss - Shankar
Chak De India - Shimit Amin
Saawariya - Sanjay Leela Bhansali
[The directors of the above films shall receive the award, as it should be, as opposed to convention which honors the producer for the effort]
And a second list of films that promises to keep 2008 interesting for us cinephiles:
Quick-Gun Murugan – Shashank Ghosh [Rajendra Prasad]
Fakir of Venice – Anand Surapur [Farhan Akhtar]
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na – Abbas Tyrewala [Imran Khan, Genelia D'Souza]
Dev.D – Anurag Kashyap [Abhay Deol]
Gulal – Anurag Kashyap [Raja Chaudhury, Ayesha Mohan, Kay Kay Menon]
Basra – Navdeep Singh
Mumbai Meri Jaan - Nishikant Kamat
Tera Kya Hoga Johnny? – Sudhir Mishra [Neil Nitin Mukesh]
Sarkar Raaj – Ram Gopal Verma [Bachchans –package of Senior, Junior & Ash]
80s Delhi film - Dibakar Banerjee [Abhay Deol]
Aamir – Rajkumar Gupta [Rajeev Khandelwal]
Purna Viram - Bhavani Iyer
Striker – Chandan Arora [Siddharth, Padmapriya]
Spicey Western – Homi Adajania [Saif Ali Khan]
The Japanese Wife – Aparna Sen [rahul Bose, Raima Sen]
Dilli 6 – Rakesh Omprakash Mehra [Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor]
Jodha Akbar – Ashutosh Gowarikar [Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai]
Halla Bol – Rajkumar Santoshi [Ajay Devgan, Vidya Balan]
Slumdog Millionaire – Danny Boyle [Anil Kapoor]
Shantaram – Mira Nair [Johnny Depp]
Infinitely interesting return to directing by the cult filmmaker Kamal Swarup after a gap of 20 years after the epoch-making debut film ‘Om-Dar-B-Dar’ in 1988 with
The 3rd Policeman – Kamal ‘Om-Dar-B-Dar’ Swarup
Dasavatharam – K.S.Ravikumar [KamalHaasan, Asin, Mallika Sherawat]
Vaaranam Aayiram - Gautham Menon [Surya, Sameera Reddy]
Aayirathil Oruvan – Selvaraghavan [Karthi, Reema Sen]
Hussain – Ram [Dhanush]
How can an article talking about the French New Wave & Cahiers du Cinema’s role in the same NOT talk about PassionForCinema. PFC is Hope for the Very Best that’s to come to Indian Cinema. As the French New Wave [& almost every other major movement in Cinema] has demonstrated, film in its plural form is what foments change & meets the intended aspiration for the National Cinema in question.
Anurag Kashyap, going by what 2007 has paved, you’re in illustrious company. Do you have your acceptance speech ready? Take a Bow Anurag.
Here’s to the Year that has gone-by, & the equally promising one that we usher-in tonight - Happy New Year folks!
yours truly. i remain, thani.
33 Responses to “2007, Indian Cinema in the Year of Anurag Kashyap”
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At last Thani ! :)… And a worthy post indeed ! :) Though I wished you would have dwelled upon Godard as well !
What about ‘Drona’? Could that be a surprise hit (good film)? The concept sounds interesting. A couple of doubts though, how good special effects will be?…….
It seems in year 2008 we will see quite few films with special effects and all.
thani.. machcha.. let’s not forget evano oruvan either ending off your top 10, and mumbai meri jaan for 2008’s eagerly awaited.. nishi bhai is another one to watch out for next year!
Loved your post , whats new!
But Saawariya? Really??
Why?
@striker
Nishi slipped my hurried mind.. ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ is in now, as it should’ve been.. thanks striker.
@Kavita
thanks kavita.. can’t still get over your ‘touching’ comment on Tamil M.A. :-)
‘Saawariya’, on the strength of it being the filmmaker’s persistent style, without veering-off to make a ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Hain Sanam’ when he thought he wasn’t understood enough..
@P(L)AYBACK
thanks, & a dedicated post to Papa Godard, No Less..
@ Thani … Thanks ! U indulge me ! :)
am sure i’ve missed-out watching few films that would rightfully have made any Top 10 list for the year 2007. my not managing to watch them is the culprit, and would be glad to learn of them & make it a point to watch them..
and equally sure of ‘being in the dark’ of few ‘indie-darlings’ that would grace 2008. would be much-obliged to be made-known of them, & celebrate them..
Hi, though I like the efforts of Anurag, I think Thani’s gone overboard in his praise for Kashyap. Fact remains, he has yet to prove a LOT, to be even mentioned along those greats (that I am sure any film school willl teach u about).
Hi and a very nice post
Could someone suggest some good french filmakers and their must see films, I am totally clueless about the french.
You can start with these
French
Jean Luc Godarad - Breathless(A bout de Souffle), Weekend, Masculin Feminin, Alphaville, etc.
Truffaut - Shoot the Pianist, Jules et Jim, 400 Blows, Days of Night
Resnais- Hiroshima Mom Amour, Last Year at Murienbad
Italian
Fellini - 8 1/2,La Strada, La Dolce Vita, Roma, Amarcord
Visconti- The Leopard
Russian
Abdrei Tarkovsky - All 7 films by him are pure Genius (Mirror, Stalker, Andrei Rublev, Solyaris, Nostalghia, Sacrifice, Ivan’s Childhood)
Swedish
Ingmar Bergman (Perhaps the Greatest of all time)
Persona, Cries and Whispers, Winterlight, Wild Strawberries, Seventh Seal, Fanny&Alexander, The Silence, Autumn Sonata
if m not wrong, dibakar’s film is Oye Lucky Lucky Oye.
N r we soon going to see something like Anurag Kashyap presents…as desi tarntino…or may be…PFC presents….
hi vivek,
let me suggest some:
Francois Truffaut - The 400 Blows (my all time favorite)
Jean-Luc Godard - Breathless (I didn’t like it as much.)
Eric Rohmer - any movie - they are all enjoyable (or boring, depending on your taste) to the same degree.
Jean Renoir - The Rules of the Game (Again, i didn’t like as much as it’s reputation suggests.)
Of the contemporary lot,
Jacques Audiard - Read my lips, The Beat that my heart skipped
Michael Haneke - The Piano Teacher, Cache
And yes, Krystof Kieslowski (though he’s Polish) - Blue, Red and White (Three Colours Trilogy)
Sawariya over Guru? I think it was better than both Chak de and Sawariya.
Please change the name of PFC to Passion for Anurag (PFA)
Sometimes I wish I was Dominique from The Fountainhead who sets out to destroy things or people who she admires a lot… so that they will not be viewed down by the mediocre eyes… I wish Thani had not written this piece about Anurag Kashyap as many times it is the same downwards glance I see… I sometimes feel bad in asking my friends to go see something i presume beautiful… they do not see the reverence in the way I view it… its like whoring out your love for the sake of acceptance.
@GOPI
I’m speechless after reading this!!!
Gopi, whose downwards glance?
From whom doesn’t matter, it’s too whom which matters!!!
@A just A
you can be a ventriloquist when you’re speechless!
Ohhh, great observation. This means every person who can’t speak or by Nature’s disgrace is Mute, can be a ventriloquist.
To explain you - I meant speechless, as I was overwhelmed after reading this. My limited linguistic ability didn’t permit me to express what I felt!
Gopi,
After my initial reaction my second thoughts are..
Who wins in the END, it was Roark, and no1 else!!!
machcha(s) Gopi & A just A, you guys should Explain Men!
what’re you trying to say? why does it all sound Coded, Ambigously Abusive, & Threatening?
destroy,
mediocre,
downwards glance,
whoring out your love,
for the sake of acceptance.
Give me some time to put all this discussion into exact words, to explain you!
I’ll get back to you. Till that time one thing - read FountainHead, if you haven’t or read once more.
This was a comment made by Taran Adarsh on AK on indiafm.com-
RETURN OF HANUMAN is Anurag Kashyap
How can you forget Aamir Khan’s “Ghajini”
I think I was rather cryptic in expressing my feelings. My, outpour so to say, is because of Shyam Ranjan’s comments which appeared above mine. Thani, dont you feel hurt inside that your taste (in Anurag’s work) and your abode (PFC) has been ridiculed by someone who could not see what you could.
Imagine you watch a movie which you enjoyed, you could find a deeper involvement in it. But how many would you share your experience with. How many would actually see or try to see what you saw in it? And then people begin ridiculing it, saying its drab, its boring and khatiya and all that kind, just because they didnt even try to discover anything. It has become obvious, in-your-face entertainment. Comedy has to be obviously funny. There is nothing subtle that people want to find.
In such a world, its difficult not being cynical; atleast for me. Which is why I cannot tolerate it when people ridicule something without even trying to understand it.
Tnani,
M absolutely clueless about Om Dar B Dar. Please enlighten
Love Story 2050 also releasing on the same date.
In Harman Vs. Imran’s case, I would prefer Harman. A couple of reasons for this.
Aamir Khan might be a big star, but that doesn’t goes to say that anyone launched by Aamir will be a big star. Remember Faisal Khan? Aamir’s own brother. He had full support of Aamir, but what happaned to him? For all you know, Imran might meet the same fate.
Another point - Why would Aamir take Genelia, one of the most flop heroine of Bollywood as a heroine? I mean, how many fans does she has , apart from her own family?
Also, the director of the film is Abbas Tyrewala, the guy who used to write scripts before. In comparison, Love Story 2050 is directed by ace director Harry Baweja who gave us films like “Qayamat”, “Dilwale” etc. I trust Harry Baweja far more than Abbas Tyrewala.
Further, a look at Love Story 2050 ’s promos makes you sit back and take notice. Love Story 2050 is an interesting film. Its a love story, but with exciting special effects and an intriguing story line. This might be India’s first sci-fi film. The budget of Harman’s costumes in Love Story 2050 alone must be equal to “Jaane Tu”’s entire budget.
Boss, a multiplex ticket now costs Rs.250. I would rather go and watch Love Story 2050 than see some overrated and under-delivered performance by some over-hyped star-nephew.
“The budget of Harman’s costumes in Love Story 2050 alone must be equal to “Jaane Tu”’s entire budget.”
So… you go to watch costumes in a film? And yeah Qayamat was definitely a masterpiece- HB is an ace director… :) :0
oops!! are you caerious;)
that was for comment 29
then the costumes must be worth watching, ATLEAST,!!