Tony Mera Naam | PassionforCinema

Over the past 12 years Tony Khera has accumulated a vast range of experiences in various capacities in the television and film industry, ranging from associate producer, director, writer, editor, first assistant director and production manager on projects ranging from independent short films to documentaries to East Indian mini-series. His most notable achievements include working as the 1st assistant director on the award winning Canadian documentary "Raves - The Experience" (2000) and as the screenplay writer and production manager of the Canadian short film "Cash On Delivery" (2006) which was well received at the Edmonton International and Dixie International Film Festivals. He obtained his Diploma in â€Broadcast Communications - Television and Film Productionâ€ from the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 2001. Currently he is writing the Canadian feature film "The Golden Road"

Tony Mera Naam's Blog

23
Apna Sapna Filmi Filmi…
Today, right here on PFC, I bear to you all my soul. Ok, that definitely was a tad dramatic. More or less I haven’t written a post on PFC in the last a few months mostly because I’ve been super busy with work and life and lots of writing. Or should I say re-writing (read on to see what that’s all about). Seriously though through this post I’d like...
by Tony Mera Naam at June 5th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
17
At a Video Store near you…
The rabid infestation of the cancer known as piracy has completely devalued each and every film, big and small, and ultimately killed the experience of watching a film on DVD. Now every film from Billu Barber to Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge, from Delhi-6 to Jai Veeru (yes I know that film JUST released in theaters this weekend!) is sitting on the counters of the video stores in...
by Tony Mera Naam at March 14th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
31
There is a void that needs to be filled…
Indeed there is a need for better quality films. Films that are insightful, intellectual, thought provoking. Films that at once examine and enlighten our true human emotions, relations, and realities. Some of these films include character studies while others could take a more objective, macro look at a slice of our societies. These films are very important, and they have...
by Tony Mera Naam at March 8th, 2009 at 08:03 pm
25
Anil Kapoor – Representing India in Hollywood
From Om Puri to Irrfan Khan, Tabu to Aamiir Khan, only a privileged handful of actors have had the glorious opportunity of represent mainstream Indian cinema to a global audience. And yes, when I say mainstream Indian cinema, I am indeed referring to the flavors popular of “Bollywood” which most Indians worldwide embrace as amongst their most beloved passions....
by Tony Mera Naam at February 23rd, 2009 at 01:02 am
52
Why don’t we give credit where credit is due?
Many filmmakers in India understand that making films is only half the battle. Those films must then be sold to a distributor, who in turn has to book various theaters to play in, and then finally the film must reach its audience. If that film doesn’t succeed in attracting audiences, it loses money, and everyone associated with the film, from the exhibitors to the...
by Tony Mera Naam at February 10th, 2009 at 09:02 pm
7
Flashback Film Review – Dost (1974)
I’ve always felt that if one is hell-bent on re-making a film from a by-gone era, it shouldn’t be a beloved classic like Don or Sholay, but rather one of the many hidden gems of yesteryear, which may not be sitting constantly at the forefront of our filmy memories. Besides the obvious benefits restoring and upgrading a classic to the modern era and exposing...
by Tony Mera Naam at December 20th, 2008 at 02:12 am
22
Can Aditya Chopra pull it off?
Has anyone visited the Yash Raj Films website recently? They’ve unveiled the first look for Aditya Chopra’s upcoming directional venture “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi“. Below the poster, which by the way is quite interesting, there is the following “Film Overview”: Aditya Chopra’s third directorial venture after eight years, “Rab...
by Tony Mera Naam at October 26th, 2008 at 02:10 pm
39
The Great Indian… Spoof… Is it Time?
I’ve always been of the opinion that our Hindi film culture, or film lineage so to speak, is so strong that remakes are very risky ventures going in. I mean, there’s always the usual debates on whether the original screenplay should be kept in tact to appease us “purists” or whether the film should be “updated” with new twists and sometimes...
by Tony Mera Naam at October 21st, 2008 at 09:10 pm
10
The Golden Road…
I’m currently writing a film entitled “The Golden Road”. It’s a project that, over the past 8 months or so, has grown very near and dear to me. I’d like to believe that I’ve grown and matured with this film, at least in the capacity of a screenwriter. During this time the film has continued to evolve, almost taking on a life of its own....
by Tony Mera Naam at August 23rd, 2008 at 07:08 am
16
Another Golden Opportunity… brutally wasted…
Disclaimer: This is NOT a post about Love-Story 2050. I haven’t seen that film, and won’t until maybe when it releases on DVD. But I must admit, there was one thing about the film which intrigued me a great deal. And no, its not the special effects. Those I think we’ve got a good idea of from the trailers (and films like The 5th Element, I-Robot, AI...
by Tony Mera Naam at July 6th, 2008 at 07:07 am
14
The 3 Missing C’s in Commercial Cinema…
As an avid, loyal fan of hindi films, as well as being a lifelong student of cinema, I’ve wondered for several years why the most basic elements of narrative and storytelling are missing from so many prolific commercial hindi movies. Barardwaj Ranjan had alluded to this topic in one of his recent, insightfully entertaining “between reviews” blogs. Here...
by Tony Mera Naam at June 28th, 2008 at 12:06 am
28
Some funny hindi songs…
Normally I take the train to work in downtown Vancouver. Parking is, as you can guess, a bitch. So I never take my car. Today, however, was an altogether different story. Today I had to go a lot farther out, to the mountain town of Squamish for a product launch. It’s just outside of Whistler BC, and about a 2 hour drive from my home. I had to leave early in the morning...
by Tony Mera Naam at June 14th, 2008 at 07:06 pm
37
What made those Masala films so damn good!
I had originally started this post as a rant against the misconceptions, and misrepresentations against the classic 70’s Hindi Cinema we grew up watching. If I could sum up that rant in a one-liner, it would go something like this: “Films like Tashan and Om Shanti Om may claim to be odes to 70’s masala films, but all they truly amount to be are wanna...
by Tony Mera Naam at May 15th, 2008 at 04:05 am
36
Of Don, Mithya and Don…
Earlier tonight I had a very strange urge to put on the DVD of Farhan Akhtar’s version of “Don”. I can’t quite pinpoint what it was that brought me to do it… I think it may a lot to do with all this talk around plagiarism and originality. So I sat there watching, thinking to myself “if it were anyone else, I might even be offended....
by Tony Mera Naam at April 15th, 2008 at 12:04 am
14
Khosla Ka Ghosla Director’s Next Film
It’s been a long time coming. Just read an article on IndiaFM.com that Dibakar Banerjee, Director of the critically acclaimed, immensely likeable film “Khosla Ka Ghosla” has finally announced his next film. Titled “Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye” (kickass title IMHO) the film stars the talented Mr. Abhay Deol as a thief who, as per Banerjee himself,...
by Tony Mera Naam at April 6th, 2008 at 02:04 pm
40
the Big and the Small of it
I know I’m stating the obvious, going in circles and just plain ranting. To be, a perfect world would be one in which a great screenplay is backed by a good budget, gets a marketable starcast, is helmed by a good director, turns out to be a great film and goes on to become a blockbuster. Wasn’t that the Hindi cinema of the 60’s and 70’s? Shouldn’t...
by Tony Mera Naam at March 13th, 2008 at 03:03 pm
30
Whatever the course, the end is the renown…
I guess a lot of things can knock you on your ass. The real test is how you get back on your feet. The last few months for me have been quite the introspective journey. You see, a few months back my public service contract had expired leaving me unemployed. I had all the time in the world to do what the one thing I’ve been complaining I never had enough time to do:...
by Tony Mera Naam at December 8th, 2007 at 12:12 am
20
Bollywood vs. The World
You know, there’s something that’s been on my mind for some time now, but I’ve managed to keep it to myself. Today, in the words of Popeye the Sailorman “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!” So now let me say this. Who the hell gives a flying fuck about what Hollywood, or the rest of the world thinks about our cinema?!...
by Tony Mera Naam at November 9th, 2007 at 05:11 pm
17
Creating New Stars in Hindi Cinema…
With Saawariya introducing the world to the acting talents of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, and Om Shanti Om rocket launching the career of Deepika Padukone, I got to thinking about the major stars of Hindi cinema who were introduced in the new millenium… Though many an actor made his/her debut since Y2K, only a few have had the kind of impact which could earn them...
by Tony Mera Naam at November 7th, 2007 at 12:11 am
32
Reviewing the Reviewers
Lately there’s been a lot of talk on PFC about film reviewers. Most of it is not so nice, which is fine I suppose. If you’re willing to dish out criticism you should be ready to take it. Right? Whenever iffy about watching a film, most of us head online and read a few reviews. I know I do. Of course it’s always good to read a few reviews after you watch a film to...
by Tony Mera Naam at August 18th, 2007 at 02:08 pm
21
THIS is what can stop the Plagiarism Plague…
pla·gia·rism (n) – something copied from somebody else’s work, or somebody else’s idea that somebody presents as his or her own Oh, and its illegal. Did you know you can actually get your ass sued for it? Or better yet, sue the pants off someone who plagiarized your hard work and creativity! That’s what Sony Pictures Entertainment and Overbrook Entertainment...
by Tony Mera Naam at August 10th, 2007 at 03:08 pm
8
2007: A Look Back & A Look Ahead
I’m writing this strictly from an audience perspective, from a fan of everything from big budget masala films, to those great small budget films which thankfully we’re seeing more and more of, and everything in between. 2007 has thus far been one of the worst years in recent memory. There’s been very little in the way of entertaining, memorable films. For audiences,...
by Tony Mera Naam at August 7th, 2007 at 06:08 pm
15
Good News to Share with PFC
Lately I’ve had 2 dominant emotions: elation and pride. I’m excited to share some good news with PFC, because I consider this place to be my film community. In Oct. 2005 I wrote & my good friend Manny Parmar produced and directed a short comedy film called “Cash On Delivery”. The film was first screened in Vancouver in May 2006. Since then...
by Tony Mera Naam at August 2nd, 2007 at 07:08 pm
52
Why I’m looking forward to “Chak De India”
Disclaimer – This will be a shorter post mainly because I just had throat surgery on Friday the 13th and am still drugged up on anti-biotics and T-3s. I hope I can remain coherent LINK We all know its a YashRaj Films Production and Aditya Chopra is Producing. As one would expect he’s also added his creative inputs: the film is jointly written by him…...
by Tony Mera Naam at July 18th, 2007 at 06:07 pm
28
RANT: “Actor” vs. “Character” in Hindi films
Disclaimer: This rant is restricted to mainstream films and in particular their stars. I am aware of brilliant actors the calibre of Irfan Khan, Kay Kay Menon, Arshad Warsi, Ranvir Shoery who’ve proven their abilities in both lead and supporting roles. But I’m in the mood to rant and rant about “popular” cinema, so here I go… I find that...
by Tony Mera Naam at June 15th, 2007 at 11:06 am
1
Building The New Stars of Hindi Cinema…
With Saawariya introducing the world to the acting talent of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, and Om Shanti Om rocket launching the career of Deepika Padukone, I got to thinking about the major stars of Hindi cinema who were introduced in the new millenium… and many an actor made his debut since Y2K, only a few have had the kind of impact which could earn them the...
by Tony Mera Naam at June 11th, 2007 at 11:06 am
7
Why is it that our previous works are never good enough…
Last weekend my wife and I had dinner over at my friend Manny’s. We decided to watch a short film he and I had collaborated on called “Cash on Delivery”, moreso since my wife hadn’t seen it. It was screened just 2 days before our wedding…just over a year ago, I hadn’t seen it since. It was a buddy comedy about how these two guys accidently...
by Tony Mera Naam at May 24th, 2007 at 03:05 pm
5
Round and round we go…
Progression in hindi cinema is a lot like the race track in TRP: Filmmakers think their moving in the right direction, going full speed, but the farther they go in the name of progression, the faster they end up going back to cliche’d and regressive filmmaking. A few disclaimers: 1) I do enjoy escapist cinema, as long as its good. From the YRF camp I’ve liked...
by Tony Mera Naam at May 4th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
1
Vince and the Magnetic Hottie
I got an interesting email from a non-filmy chinese friend. I say “non-filmy” as in he is not associated with the film industry, has no desire to be a writer or actor or what not. He just thought of an interesting story and passed it on to me to develop on. I’ve re-written it below. It’s different than the type of stuff that I usually like to write....
by Tony Mera Naam at April 13th, 2007 at 03:04 pm
28
Another Struggler, Another Story…
This started off as a reply to Shitji’s thought-provoking post “Each One Help None”. Then I realized it does precious little to contribute to that string, so it might serve better as a post unto itself. Afterall, I spent an hour pouring my heart out here. Oh, and as a disclaimer, I name names. Let me share an anecdote of my struggles with you all… A...
by Tony Mera Naam at April 2nd, 2007 at 12:04 pm