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One of the things that is odd about the way people in our part of the world look at films is the attention they pay to hygiene factors – production values, general level of slickness, etc. It is odd because it is often at the cost of the content - the story, the characters and the general standard of story-telling.

For example, not much else can explain the rather idiotic response to the recent Pakistani film Khuda Ke Liye, the first one from across the border to be released in India. It is an outstanding clear-headed film, with both thematic weight and storytelling momentum, and tremendous relevance. And yet, many of the reviews, despite praising the film, pointed out its “poor production values” and “uneven performances”, to the extent where you often hear people looking for those moments to justify not giving it the kudos it deserves, conveniently overlooking the …

It really is an obvious idea. To make sure that worthwhile cinema from all around the country is on an equal footing when it comes to being noticed and evaluated (and honoured), nothing can do the job better than a fair, non-agenda-led awards show.

Something that the National Awards perhaps were at one time, but political interference and a diffused arbitrariness has destroyed its credibility. Today all our “private” awards shows out of Mumbai have the same disease afflicting them – stars and glamour.

The quality most missing from our cinema today, especially in Mumbai, is originality. Our awards shows aggressively reflect this. It manifests in the complete lack of respect to the “idea”, and compensating instead with glitz, glamour and buffoonery – reflecting the mainstream Bollywood sensibility more than anything else.

What if there is an awards show that reflects the spirit of the best films that get made …

India is set up to be the most creative place on earth. The diversity of its people is now being accentuated by the variety of mindsets jostling with each other for some kind of supremacy. One of the key ingredients of evolution and creativity is cross-pollination, and India is better endowed for that to happen more than any other country in the world.

Our entertainment industry is sitting on a wishing well, if only it could see things that way. But given the mindset that runs it, that also makes it also one of the most frustrating places on earth.

The level of insecurity in our entertainment industry is surprising, given that it is supposed to be a business at the end of the day. It is the money that determines what projects get made, and the thinking behind the money that forms a working culture.

But aren’t business people …

It is a pleasure to reach out to genuine lovers of cinema through PFC. If our cinema had the same vitality and the independence of thought that PFC displays every day, perhaps it would speak for our times much more meaningfully than it does now.

My reason for writing for PFC is to interact and listen to genuine cinema viewers and enrich myself, besides sharing my experiences that can hopefully be of value to others attempting projects which shouldn’t logically have any takers.

A strange set of circumstances have put me in a situation where I have two full length feature films ready at the same time. One is a fiction feature film (called Hulla), produced by Sunil Doshi (the producer of Bheja Fry) to be released in a few weeks hopefully. The other is a non fiction feature (called Leaving Home) on the music band Indian Ocean, produced by …