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P.S.- the following post contins spoilers..

it was a late call by shahnab on sudhir mishra’s behalf that screwed my next night.. was at fun at nine sharp with my sfx supervisor David.. the movie unfolded..
grainy colored images of a dorm room and a girl next to the window, trying to clean up her table, talking to someone offscreen, taking off the plastic table cover, because she is going to need it.. for what, we don’t know yet.. we see another girl that she has been talking to.. they are tense, scared.. its an unfamiliar world.. one girl walks out of the room into the corridor to get something.. in first five minutes the poverty of the times in Romania comes through.. you are wondering what’s happening.. the girl is buying stuff from a guy in a room , lux soaps and what not , and he also throws in a …

The music for COAF comprises of two tracks by Exabyssus, a band based out of Hyderabad.

The sound represents the same angst that is expected of this revolutionary film. Anish would be a better person to elaborate on how these songs have been used, but I was enamored and intrigued by the use of metal as the distinctive and symbolic sound in a film that captures the dark interiors of the industry. It would be interesting to figure the whole thing out, as the scratching of gray cells has already taken off since I put my ears to Exabyssus’ soundtrack for Confessions.

Song 1: THE CONFESSIONS THEME

The track starts off the angry mood with a striking matchstick, and the grave vocals set the angst in the head. I have never heard such a soundtrack for any Indian …

GALA EVENT: Music Release of Confessions of a Filmmaker

Where: Passionforcinema.com

When: Right Now

Invitees: Viewers of Passionforcinema.com

Speakers: YOU!!!!!!

Just got off phone with Anish Kuruvilla and boy o boy does he have plans or does he have plans? Currently i am bound with a verbal contract not to reveal anything as of now…but, rest assured that something big is on the way. Though this post is not about the big plan concerning Anish and Confessions of a Filmmaker, i promise i will be giving away subtle hints on them, you can read between the lines, eh?

Anish has decided for …

iVIEW AUTHOR:
Dipankar Giri (Bombay, India)

email:
dipankar.giri[at]gmail.com

Last time when I went to the office of Rajesh Singh (producer of Anwar) they yelled at me “yahan Manish Jha ka naam mat lijiye nahi to maar khaiyega”.The tempearure was soaring outside…n this came out as an increment of another degree..I was surprised..hey what’s wrong with u man….but I controlled myself n calculated what must have gone wrong with these guys….Rajesh Singh had come all the way from lucknow to finance some “different” stories….but even certified directors couldn’t recover his money…so obviously, there is an agony towards the director….I don’t know what turned the producer on whenever Manish would have narrated the story to him….I have not seen the film….all I know about the film is that the idea for the film has came from a short story “phagun ki aatmakatha” written by noted writer Priyamvad…. …

Leaving the depressing environs of Delhi Heights I decided to go on Yatra.Instead of saying Namaste London I reached Mumbai to experience Life In A Metro. I took Ek Chaalis ki Last Local.To my surprise it was quite full. Opposite me were Good Boy Bad Boy whose very demeanour screamed Panga Na Lo and who were trying to prove Nehle Pe Dehla.

Beside me were Khanna & Iyer who seemed to be Just Married. From their conversation I deduced they had missed a group tour by Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd but they were cool as if nothing much of significance had been lost. Their brazen coochy-cooing put me in a dilemma whether to do Salaam-e-Ishq or not! I was also wondering Kya Love Story Hai!

Sitting diagonally across was a pretty babe.I wanted to draw her attention. Good Boy Bad Boy broke into Shaka Laka Boom Boom dance routine on their shaky …

exactly..
who am I? I in capital..I walked into Ruby Tuesday at the infinity mall and there was this man.. i never found out who?.. and he said “Finally” and i looked at him like Travis bickle looked into the mirror and asked “you talking to me”.. only difference being i wasn’t carrying any guns..
mr. anurag kashyap, the man who thinks he knows it all, well do you?
do i know you?
you are a big man sir, you know nobody, you teach yashraj how to make films, you tell khalid mohammad how to review films, everyone knows you, but may i ask sir, who exactly you think you are beyond being a frustrated ranter?
what is a ranter?
you, the one who rants..
as in rave and rant?
as in just rant..
ok..[waiting for what's gonna come next]
i read your blogs..
thank you..
have you ever given it a thought that you might need help?
yes, i need it all …

A Collage of References

Ek Chaalis ki Last Local is a treat for you if you watch it in an empty theater with no people or expectations. It is Abhay Deol’s innocence that catches you first, then the empty railway station reminiscent of Dil Se. then as the razor sharp screenplay takes over, you can stay assured this is good cinema.

For a screenplay that reads like a Film Rental’s Catalog (ample references to Pulp Fiction, Lock Stock, Big Lebowski flying scene, Fight Club), Last Local entertains you and entertains you.

They are all there to call it Noire-the cheesy indulgent filmic devices(the proverbial one liners, the staged drama, the relating-to-audience Voice Overs, the matter-of-fact cinematography, badly done make-up and the intriguing nuances of a linear narrative. You name it.

The lines are too crisp to ignore-

“fakkad bunty babli”
“ye Mumbai dogs bhi”
“maxxy york(!)”
“sar pe baithega kya”
“mere bhi button …

Hey was off the scene for a while. Me back again!

This has been a busy week particularly with regard to my film viewing schedules. Started with Life in a Metro which should have been named Sexual Life in a Metro as all Anurag Basu did was dwell on sleazy underbelly of corporate culture and human relationships. Fair enough, to each his own. The other film I watched was Shootout at Lokhandwala. Given a choice between romance and guns, I’d go for guns any day. The film comes hot on the heels of the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case grabbing headlines and eyeballs in the media. Less importantly are the Khwaja Yunus custodial death case and another fake encounter case in Gujarat that of Javed Sheikh who was gunned down in cold blood by the Rajasthan and Gujarat police in 2004. All three cases are preceded by a long and …

Revised version

David Dhawan, the king of Comedy films. He is a graduate from National Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), in Pune. He studied editing there and after graduation he entered the Hindi film Industry as an editor. But before that itself he had connection with the film industry. His brother Anil Dhawan was a famous actor in the 70’s who acted in film like Hawas, Piya Ka Ghar, Nagin, etc.

David Dhawan’s first film as a director is Taqatwar in 1989. From then till now David Dhawan has made many films out which most of them were superhits. And almost all of them were remakes. He had a good team to help him make the films better than the original. Some were better.

Here are different types of remakes that David Dhawan has done.

1. Hollywood inspired - David Dhawan had indianised some Hollyood movies very well. Here are …

Background :

Conrad Rooks had got involved in drugs and had visited France to get rid of his drug addiction. There he got the book “Sidhaartha” (written by Nobel Laureate German author Herman Hess) from his first wife. He was greatly impressed with the book and wished to make a film on the book. He got the rights to make a film on the book with the help of son of Herman Hess.
Rooks with his wife came to Bombay and as everything was falling in place, he met newely married young Shashi Kapoor and his wife Jeniffer Kendel Kapoor, besides the Swimming Pool of hotel “Sun N Sand”.
Rooks visited RK studio at Chembur in Bombay and met there with Raj Kapoor the elder brother of Shashi Kapoor. Rooks was astonished to see the impact of RK on others in the film world. While sitting with RK in his personal …

There is lots of discussion and arguments going about SAL. Some liked, some disliked. Finally I watched it to realize comments given by our PFC guys. Below is my opinion about the film. This is the review that I sent to my friends which are not passionate about cinema as we are. I have to review the film in simple language not too technical.

SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA

Director: Apoorva Lakhiya

Overall Grading: B+

Shoot out at Lokhandwala is a movie which tells the story of gangsters who were killed in a shootout in 1991 at Lokhandwala complex.

Produced by Sanjay Dutt, Sanjay Gupta and Balaji motion pictures, it has some good point as well as minus points.

This is director Apurva Lakhiya’s third film after Mumbai se aaya mera dost (2003), Ek Ajnabee(2005)( Copy of english “Man on fire”). SAL is better than his previous movies but not a great movie.

Performance wise Sanjay Dutt is …

Light salad with mild seasoning. Good for health! I liked some of the ingredients.. but a bit bland still. Maybe because I am North Indian and non vegetarian!

In short: a sweet little honest film that relies totally on performances.

Film about Food:

This connect about food and emotion - maybe it’s cultural or just purely human but to me it’s interesting. When the movie opened, I was instantly transported to one of my favorite films about food. Allow me to write a bit about that …

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) Ang Lee’s early work.

The film is set in a house in Taiwan about a widowed Chinese master chef who lives with his three grown up, single daughters. He’s ageing and losing his sense of taste but continues to communicate with them by hosting elaborate Chinese dinners every Sunday. But things change, …

This was going to be an experience that would make an interseting blogg for sure! We were to shoot at the landmark VT station and we were going to shoot for a marathon 17 hours!!

I had decided that the first thing that’ll require attention was my health- on the day i had vowed to intake less of slid food and drink more fluids. Until the day before the shoot i was mentally prpared and excited but….

On the evening before the shoot i had temperature and sore throat….rushed to the doctor and pleaded for some strong antibiotics…doctor refused…he said u needed rest and a disciplined life style…i knew he would freak out if i tell him my work plans for the next 24 hours. I came home with some medicines and got back to home made- age old remedies. Hot water gragling-milk with haldi and sleep.

I was up at 5 in …

When Mr Ajay Muley became a prostitute.

This is completely fictitious post stemming from my infertile and derivative imagination. Any resemblance to any characters either living or dead is purely co incidental and completely unintentional.

“Sir I saw your last short film… I didn’t like it at all !!”

“Why ???”

“I didn’t see any logic behind it.. What is the purpose of the film ?? The climax is unsatisfying and resolution-less !!!” I realised i had ventured more than i had wished to.

Muley was uncharacteristically silent. In the past when I had criticised his scripts, the short films of Martin Scorcese/David Lynch over a drink in this very studio-house here in Juhu (paradise for film directors), Muley used to taunt me with “What is the purpose of your life ?? Do u ever want to be a film maker or just a wannabe film maker ???”

I …

The Ghost of Emergency

I can’t sleep because my dreams have become an oddity. Everytime I shut my eyes, a nightmare, begins. I enter my parent’s house. The main door is ajar. My mother is sitaring; and my father is praying. There’s an elderly lady who is reading a newspaper; and making a check-list about which Breaking News is backed by which political party and for what purpose. The newspaper is lowered. Its The Ghost of Emergency.

I realise this is no ordinary dream. This is a dream with an extraordinary premise. I gawp at The Ghost and try to interpret my dream. Should I read it as an allegory or a magical-realist fable, or as an edge-of-seat adventure. Or best still, should I drop everything and run away! Being a coward in the classical sense, I run away. I think I’m safe. But the next seven days, my dream repeats itself. …

Bollywood is changing man. There was a time not long ago when all sorts of babu types from Bhatinda to Barabanki, in safari suits and white shoes carried bags full of cash or bhais from Bhusaval to Borivali carried guns to escort nothing else but bags full of cash with a two point programme-one to get themselves drowned in the glamour and glitz of Hindi Film industry and second,if they could lay their hands off the wannabe starlets- to produce a film.

And in this process they were helped and assisted by lackeys from all departments and of all varieties from the filmworld. The process went something like this. You wanted to make a film. You had a brilliant script backed by your conviction. You wanted to break into the hallowed domes of film fraternity. You wanted to prove yourself. Above all you wanted to convey something meaningful …

katrina kaif ko hindi nahi aati…upen patel bhi hindi nahi bol pata…
so what?
hindi filmon ke actor ke liye zaroori nahi hai ki unhe hindi aati hi ho.hrithik roshan bhi hindi padhna-likhna nahi jaante…abhishek bachchan honge hindi ke kavi dr. harivansh rai bachchan ke pote aur super star amitabh bachchan ke bete…lekin hindi bolne mein woh bhi ladkhadane lagte hain.fardeen.zayed khan,dino morea ke bare mein bhi nahi suna ki unhe hindi aati hai.agar heroin ski baat karen to wahan bhi yahi halaat hain.hindi likhne-padhne ke maamle mein sabhi LIKH LODHA PADH PATTHAR hain.
hindi film industry ki yeh aisi khoobi hai jis par humen naaz hona chahiye.is film industry mein pair tikaane ke liye hindi ki jaankari zaroori nahi hai.aap kisi star ke bete hain…ya rishtedaar hain…ye unhe kisi bhi karan se pasand hai to hidi mein qualify karne ki zaroorat nahi hai.film ban jaayegi…aapke dialougue koi aur bol dega.sridevi ko hi …

The reactions of my friends to my love of Indian cinema ranges from befuddlement to humouring me. I have shown parts of Rang de Basanti and Omkara to my friends in the film industry, and while they appreciate the cinematography and many of the technical aspects of these films, they don’t enjoy the entire picture. My more socially conscious friends loved Traffic Signal and Amu, but can’t tolerate masala or much else I have tried to show them. I have a couple of friends who love Devdas as much as I, but I haven’t been able to interest them in much else. I have never seen an Indian film that I can show to all of my friends, especially those who are not filmmakers or cinema fans, that appeal to the average American.

Until today.

Watching Cheeni Kum was supposed to be a timepass on a long holiday weekend. I expected silly …

When I was doing the post production of my first short film, some years ago, I had decided that I would use less background music for the film. But afterwards I felt that some scenes needed them. I told my friend, the music director, to add some background music to the scenes. And yes, that brought life to the scenes. But, in some more scenes I felt that the music was not very effective. My friend then slightly changed the music which we had used in the titles and put it in one scene. And that scene became my favorite in the film.

Theme music in movies are mostly used in the starting and end titles of the movie. But when they are used in some important scenes in the movie, it brings a special feeling and makes the scene very effective. Here is a list of some of …

The only regret I have while watching “Cheeni Kum” was that I did not have my dinner before watching the film. Every time Amitabh Bachchan said “Hyderabadi Zafarani Pulao” my stomach drooled. But then “Cheeni Kum” is more about food. Its about love, its above logical reasoning, its about need to be loved and then its nothing about the above. Contrary to the name, “Cheeni Kum” (CK) is sweet.

Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu make the movie sweet with their onscreen chemistry almost getting the recipe just right and yet the film remains incomplete. something is missing or is it some Ingredient is missing or is it too sweet?

CK is a love story between chef, Buddhadev Gupta in an Indian restaurant in London. He is arrogant, egoistic and very proud of his cooking. Tabu is a software engineer. He is 64 and she is 34. He is old enough to be …