Passion for Cinema
It all started when I was introduced to ‘Star movies’ back in India, some 12 years back. Before that only Indian Cinema was known to me and I was done with watching most of the good and bad Indian movies. Never felt very interested in films or film-making. Then came the Cable TV and I started with Star movies, only gateway for me to world Cinema and everything started to change. My perspective about films changed, a new sense develeped within me and I loved all of it. I was watching movies more closely now, noticing details and things which were left out. I was giving all my time to movies from Hollywood, chinese Kung-fu cinema and trying to get most from it. Years and years of movie watching and reading about the film-making, one day I told myself “Dude you are passionate about Cinema”.
Present Day. Cinema is my passion, I love watching all kinds of movies. I discuss cinema with my friends in person, watch good movies and I try to figure out how someone can write or think of such a great script and then make brilliant film. Whenever I watch a movie and after end credits are over, if the movie starts again into my brain, my emotions are shaken, I
can feel whatever happened to the characters in the film, I assume I liked the film. At the very same moment I promise to myself that I’ll try to put everything I have to make a film which would make my audience feel the same way I felt today. but its even harder as it sounds, time to do a background check.
For all the time I remember of my life, I have only watched movies, have declared some of them as classics, crap or one time watch. What else did I do? Hours long discussion over the production values, direction, action, Cinematography and finally performance by actors. We learn so many things when we talk to people, their views, informative facts and sometimes the reasons why the movie was made and the effort behind it. If you are lucky you might run into someone who actaully have worked on films and then you get all your doubt cleared and also vital tips about the industry. Is there anything else I did?
Background check was over. Now I look around and wonder..huhhh there are so many people here like me. They are passionate, and they carry their ideas with them like me and also they know so much about world Cinema and they can discuss films for hours and hours. Is that all what I want? Cant I just forget about millions of movies I watched and sit with my own idea and develop it without any influence.
I have changed now, I dont watch many movies, my movie database is shrinking. I cannot talk whenever there is a movie discussion is going on. Why? one simple reason, I havent seen those many movies. I dont know much about Latin, Korean or German Cinema. But I dont blame them cause they think I dont know anything about cinema, my knowledge is limied and how can I think of becoming a film-maker. They are more sophisticated, with great knowledge of all the departments of film production and can help someone who really needs it. I learn so many things when I am sitting around them and but never act cause there is something missing. What is missing? Am I not passionate enough to make films or I am short of ideas. Dont know the answers.
Who are they? Film making aint easy job, believe me, I can write this on a stamp paper and most people will agree with it. It becomes even more harder when you dont have resourses or money. It takes a hell lot of effort, time and cash. Luckily I was a part of very small film crew and we were making a 3 min short. It was very tough for me to manage my job and film business, had to leave early from work and then drive to the location. Everthing I did because I was only interested in Film-making, for experience and I wanted to be a part of the crew. Enjoyed it till the very last moment. They are people whom you live with, eat and drink. They have passion, they can teach you, give you suggestions, review a movie but..but… but somehow you cannot count on them when you talk about actaully making a film. someimes they laugh and say …yea yeah ..we will make a movie or they just change the topic and go back to the ripping apart movie business. Again I feel left out and alone. I am damn seriuos about my passion, so are they but the context is different. who wins?
Time to think. They have seen a lot of things, they are more experienced in this field and have encountered the problems or atleast they have heard about the issues you might get into. I am a newbee, dont know anything except that I want to make a film. Apparently making a film is not easy, they are so so so many things related, even if you are making a short. I like only film-making but somebody can have passion of watching the cinema and keep on discussin about it. hummm …this one could be reason with them.
Thinking got over, I dont think much. Thinking sucks out your will to make a decision. I spend lot of my office time working on the scripts and when I think of converting those to a film, blood starts racing through my veins, it thrills me and makes me believe that I can do wonders in Cinema. But as I said, its not easy. You got to be ready to put everything at stake, make some tough decisions and act on them.
I would like to conclude it by saying that I respect people who are passionnate about “CINEMA”, no matter what form they like. Each one of us has capability to do something for Cinema but sometimes we only try to stop ourselves from doing that.
The one who doesnt think about the hurdles wins the race.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
erm, your knowledge is limited in regarding what sense? that you watch fewer movies? So that means you cannot be a filmmaker?
I watch very very few movies and that only Hindi movies but yet I want to become a filmmaker because I want to capture my vision-dream-ideas in a camera. And hence, I believe I do not need to watch world cinema to learn the art of filmmaking, etc.
anyway, i kinda get what you mean, when you see someone from a film background who is struggling when he has the skills and knowledge and then you compare yerself with them… and this article is the conclusion … :-?
i think, the belief is missing. you are confident in yourself but you also need others confidence…:-?
i am also like you. dreaming about film making.
even watching a good film i get thrilled.
To express my passion for film making
i am writing reviews and sending to my internet friends as i belive that it is better to do something than doing nothing.
At this stage i can do this only.
keep writing
“Thinking sucks out your will to make a decision”
Yup.
That’s just it… we THINK TOO MUCH… way too much… especially compared to what we DO…
I’m not saying don’t think, you should, but only about what you want to DO, and how you’re going to find a way to do it… you’re already writing scripts Saurabh, and you know your shit about the digital medium… so what’s stopping you? You have outlets like PFC and YouTube… put a damn short film together and get it out there.. its a great first step.. THAT’s going to be your resume… so make sure it represents YOUR kind of cinema and what capable of doing… when you to go people to make a bigger film, and they ask you what you know or what you’ve done you toss a DVD their way, and say with confidence “there you go”…
Easier said that done? Ok, yes it is… but a wiseguy once said “it is better to do something than doing nothing”… its a step in the right direction… it’ll start to satisfy that creative hunger, only to have it come back stronger…
Just like Honhaar Goonda, I too only really watch Hindi cinema and the occasional Hollywood film… here and there I might catch a “Life is Beautiful” or a “City of God” but not that often… why? Because I’m interested in making good, sensible HINDI films, and for that I already know what I want to do… why clutter the mind with stuff that in the overall picture is going to be insignificant?
@ HG, SL and Tony
Thanks guys for your views. I am trying hard to find my way out of that thinking thinking period.
Have a couple of things lined up and thats all what I want right now, work on a film.
Actually I am wrong!!
I am already out of that phase and now I am in the field, a small player though.
Hey Saurabh,
This is Abhi… a journalist with the times of india. Dont know much about you… still wondering.. are you a game for directing a movie? I am… can we do something together? Please reply on my e mail and not here… dont know whether i will be able to access it or not…