Archive for the ‘Talking-Points’

  • 0
    FILM FEST FEVER –MAMI 0 9-6
    DISGRACE-DIRECTOR STEVE JACOBS The screenplay is a visual tapestry of contrasts and contradictions that is a reality in post-apartheid South Africa. The film reveals the changing social scene where blacks reinforce their new status in society. The views held by the daughter and father symbolise the old and the changing new values. The intellectual side of his personality...
    by Indu Raman at November 8th, 2009 at 08:11 am
  • 4
    Paradigm For Philanthropic Society: Actors turned politicians
    “Paradigm for Philanthropic society” – sounds ambiguous, seems enigmatic. The election season has sprung in the political arena of Indian democracy. The recent announcement of candidates took no one by surprise. Well, quite a paradox. I agree. Abraham Lincoln wouldn’t have dared to define democracy if he had any miniscule foresight on democracy being violated...
    by Candid_quester at November 7th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
  • 17
    DTH Premiere : Latest form of piracy
    DTH or Direct to home premieres of latest films is the  latest source of non theatrical revenues for film producers. The film is shown before it is officially premiered on Movie channels on DTH platforms for  100 or 150 bucks. The entire family can enjoy the movie watching experience at home. Total value for money when compared to the amount that one would have to shell...
    by aditya_savnal at November 4th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
  • 32
    Reviewing as a weapon of murder
    When WANTED was uniformly praised by critics and critics of critics as trash, but one that is enjoyable, I thought there was a graduation in the way films—and more importantly, the genre and ‘intent’ of films— were meant to be looked at and reviewed/analyzed. And then, ALADDIN and LONDON DREAMS came along—unfortunately on the same day—and the conclusion I had...
    by Aneesh (An Jo) at November 2nd, 2009 at 04:11 pm
  • 77
    Missing flavours
    Am I a sceptic, or is everything starting to lose flavour? Maybe both, but I think it’s more that things are losing flavour. What creates flavour? Various spices, tastes, fragrances, colours. In this age when everything is sought to be brought on the same level playing field in the guise of equality, we are really creating more beiges, more blandness, more neutrals....
    by Jyoti Rayaprol at November 2nd, 2009 at 07:11 am
  • 45
    Aladin’t or Euthanasia?
    This post takes a lead from my last write-up. However, should have taken a while to write, had it not been for a “different” kind of discussion with one of the popular film-makers. It was Friday late afternoon and, it so happened that one of the creative film-makers with quite a hitlist in his kitty (in varied capacities), posted a comment on one such public...
    by Deepak Singh at November 1st, 2009 at 09:11 am
  • 7
    Money Matters
    It’s quite a revolution in my life: the essential urge to learn the art of economics. The filmmaker I look up to is in huge debt. There is no room for romanticism in today’s cinema—not at least with others’ money. The cause of this revolution is my little sister’s illness which is only controllable, but not curable. A revolution doesn’t...
    by Salik Shah at October 29th, 2009 at 02:10 am
  • 38
    Middle Class Hero
    Amol PalekarIntroduction: A question for you, what would you call a man who has the following qualities, 1. Dances well 2. Fights well 3. Can ride a horse 4. Cries at the drop of a hat 5. has no insecurities about himself, 6. Can make the most beautiful girl fall in love with him 7. Is the perfect son/brother/father/husband 8. Is the most honest person you will ever meet? 9....
    by stupendousman at October 27th, 2009 at 05:10 am
  • 41
    “Who is to blame?” Introspections by a young movie-maker
    For the very first blog on PassionforCinema, this was a rather unlikely topic to write on. But, as one starts writing, one has to be true to his/her conscience. Two, also true to the ground realities. The reality is that Bollywood’s rough patch continues and it looks highly vulnerable at the moment. The purpose of this piece is as much an attempt at self-introspection...
    by Deepak Singh at October 26th, 2009 at 07:10 am
  • 24
    Political Satire and Indian Movies
    ‘Bahut Politics Hai’, a line we frequently use in our daily conversation. This could be in reference to situations in office, in a housing colony, in an industry. We, as a country love our politics, but there is a sense of weariness with the politicians. We may love or hate our politicians, but we do not seem to be making enough fun of them There have been very few...
    by stupendousman at October 25th, 2009 at 10:10 am
  • 11
    The music of Kamal Dasgupta
    Kamal Dasgupta (1912-1974) In the Hindi film Jawab (1942), singer-actress Kanan Devi lulls a restless, and rather childlike, P. C. Barua into sweet sleep. The song is “Ay chand chup na jaana,” and it is great for frayed nerves. Given my own battles with sleep—the activity that consumes nearly a half of our lives—I feel compelled to attest to the wonder of this...
    by Nivedita Ramakrishnan at October 24th, 2009 at 05:10 pm
  • 8
    Dosar – Ode to the Companions!
    Why is it that we look for a companion? Why is it that we do not understand loneliness? Why is marriage a very unpretentious relationship? Why does this relationship not brook any space for lies, self-seeking, myopia or alternate love, if there was any such term for extra marital relationships? Dosar (2006, Bengali, Planman Pictures, Rituparno Ghosh) decides to delve...
    by Indraneel at October 24th, 2009 at 04:10 am
  • 9
    Taxi-Scene-Fornication
    Recently, I watched Taxidriver, CSI 9 and Californication S1. Three completely different experiences within days of each other. So felt the need for a release in the form of a value-pack review, sort of. Taxidriver – All along, I’d heard about Travis Bickle and his exploits and the ’symbolism’ his character portrayed, which is one of the reasons...
    by Indie Films at October 17th, 2009 at 10:10 am
  • 12
    The Marketing of Paranormal Activity — on AdAge
    Paranormal Activity, a horror flick was produced for $15,000 a couple years ago. It opened on limited screens the weekend of October 2nd 2009 for a gross of $500,000, with a wider release the weekend of October 9th for a gross above $ 7 million. As a marketing-advertising geek/student/professional, I believe better business and better marketing = more creativity and better...
    by Sriram Venkitachalam at October 12th, 2009 at 02:10 pm
  • 30
    Writer ki izzat and a happy incident
    Salim-Javed used to carry a paint-ka-dabba on a bicycle to hand-paint their names on the film posters the night before the film released. (Source: Javed Akhtar’s interview book by Nasreen Munni Kabeer.) Blatant lies.... Co-writer's name is missing againJaved Akhtar admits this much, and it may be dismissed as a fiction or dramebaazi, but the story is a good starting...
    by Vidushak at October 9th, 2009 at 11:10 am
  • 50
    Wanted- Young Stars, Where are they?
    Ram Charan Teja and Kajal Aggarwal in the blockbuster Magadheera[Note- By young star the reference here is to an actor in his 20’s and who has enough star power to carry off a film on his ‘young’ shoulders.] A short while ago when I was in Mumbai I was involved in a discussion with some friends which included a few PFC authors as well. All of a sudden the discussion...
    by Sethumadhavan at October 9th, 2009 at 09:10 am
  • 4
    Wake up Sid is my kinda movie (not a review)
    Wake up Sid is my kinda movie. Only if at the end Sid would have told Aisha “You had me at your first e-mail”, this is the movie which I would have made. I was reluctant to write anything about this film, because I FELT the movie as it was and I was sure I wouldn’t be able to articulate my love for this movie truthfully. And then I also realized that analyzing this...
    by Gaurang at October 6th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
  • 70
    Raj Thackeray ‘Get Well Soon’ – Gandhigiri v/s Goondagiri
    I have been overwhelmed by the angst and distress my post on Raj Thackeray http://passionforcinema.com/raj-thackeray-%e2%80%93-get-well-soon has caused. The objective of my post was not to gain sympathy for what happened to me nine years ago. The post was an emotional response to this continued attack on helpless citizens by goondas posing as self-appointed moral police....
    by Hansal Mehta at October 4th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
  • 8
    Unregulated Independence
    In no other field of work do you witness such a plethora of posturing, a surfeit of self-serving delusion as in the realm of Independent cinema.  There I have said it! After I had been hired, following yet another terrific round of auditions by yet another Independent Producer/Director all set to make their Film Festival Circuit movie, I got the dreaded, rather by now,...
    by Tori Roy at October 1st, 2009 at 07:10 pm
  • 110
    Fate of films NOW changes every Wednesday!
    Now no more Friday furies! Filmmakers won’t have to wait till Friday for the film to release. They may get the reviews by Wednesday itself. May be even much before the film actually releases… Shocked! Being a hardcore cinephile, even I was shocked. Shell shocked. Stunned. Dazed. Taken aback and upset. Rakesh Maria with Whats Your Rashee? dvd Some of the top distributors...
    by ashubhaimaprmwale at September 24th, 2009 at 05:09 am
  • 200
    Dil Bole Hadippa: Battered Cricket
    Yashraj movies have always been rich in characters, content, colour, Punjabi and social messages (3CPSM). Every farm fresh YR produce makes life look like a fairy tale taking the audience into an world of happiness and love with an utopian impossibility, which cynics, critics and cynical critics brand as ‘entertainment for gobar audience’. What? You have never heard...
    by ~uh~™ at September 23rd, 2009 at 01:09 am
  • 2
    Of sudden realizations: Menzel’s Closely Watched Trains (1966)
    Václav Neckář as Miloš Hrma in Closely Watched Trains (1966) TIME magazine described Closely Watched Trains (1966) as one of the 100 best films ever. Set in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during the last days of World War II, the film, directed by Jiří Menzel, powerfully documents a young Czech boy’s aching—and poignant—personal crisis—in this case, a not-so-easy...
    by Nivedita Ramakrishnan at September 20th, 2009 at 06:09 pm
  • 2
    Brian De Palma- No winners in a war
    /**  Spoilers in post Quite often  when  i  go  through   some  of   the  best  anti  war  movies  that  have been  made,  i can’t  help  noticing  one thing, in a vast  majority  of   the  cases,  the  anti  war  movies  come  out  after  the  actual  war  is  over. I  take  a look  at  some  of  the  more  well known  anti...
    by Ratnakar Sadasyula at September 17th, 2009 at 03:09 am
  • 85
    Lyrics revival
    “Let’ s put a moratorium on the use of words like dil, jigar, pyar, mohabbat in the lyrics for a few years. This might bring about some improvement in the quality of lyrics” – Javed Akhtar in an interview on a TV channel a few years ago It seems Javed Saab’s wish has been fulfilled. Stock words like ‘dil’, ‘pyar’ etc do not appear with that sickening...
    by Yusuf Tabatabai at September 16th, 2009 at 08:09 pm
  • 171
    The Return of the True single screen HERO
    Wanted may just be THE masala movie, the masses have been waiting for, THE movie which I’ve been waiting for, The movie I’ve been waiting to see with my fellow masses. As a dear friend would have put it, ‘In these times of pretentious mediocrity, Wanted may just bring a whiff of unpretentious kitsch, which could at least be reveled in with a guilty glee.’ ‘The...
    by Gaurang at September 15th, 2009 at 12:09 am
  • 8
    Story about struggle
    Gravity. The force that doesn’t want us to fly; which fears we might have a fatal fall if we do, so doesn’t permit the heavens to separate our feet from the clay. Kathmandu is that ground reality which beckons me night and day, and which I pretend to have already escaped. I thought I must first invent a pair of robust wings to defy gravity and deny that part of me....
    by Salik Shah at September 14th, 2009 at 06:09 am
  • 18
    Mohandas – A Film lost in its own nation
    Mohandas ‘the film’ is almost like Mohandas ‘the character’ in the film. As the protagonist clashes with bureaucratic system, the film clashes with nature of our film industry. Mohandas – The film takes on the industry dominated by big names, money and power. Just like the protagonist in the film, it’s a David v/s Goliath scenario…but...
    by niren at September 9th, 2009 at 05:09 am
  • 17
    Copyduties
    It was heartening to read about ‘unassignable rights’ etc being accorded to writers and lyricists in yesterday’s newspaper.(‘HRD Ministry moots royalty rights for singers, lyricists, directors’. Anubhuti Vishnoi, The Indian Express September 7 2009) Heartening especially because I happened to be in the audience at the first Indian Screenwriters’ conference...
    by nadi at September 8th, 2009 at 03:09 am
  • 3
    Route “9″ to Sleepy Hollow
    It is not hard to feel like an outsider. I think we have all felt like that at one time or another.- Alan Cumming An outsider’s point of view is always handy.-Pat Oliphant Strip  away  the  Gothic  universe,  the  dark  undercurrents,  the  twisted up  characters,  the  nightmarish  visions,  at  the  core of  it, Burton  celebrates  the  outsider....
    by Ratnakar Sadasyula at September 8th, 2009 at 01:09 am
  • 11
    How to tell if your script is good or bad?
    How to tell if your script is good or bad ??? Show it to 10 people.. and they’ll all have varying opinions. None of the opinions will match, and the exercise would leave you even more confused, rather than giving you clarity of thought. People will say that it’s nice.. but needs to be improved upon.. where ?? how ?? Someone will say the script kept me hooked...
    by struggler at September 7th, 2009 at 04:09 pm
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