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Supriyo Sen is someone whose name is familiar to only die-hard documentary lovers in India. But make no mistake – he is one young filmmaker in India whom we will hear a lot more about in the years to come. Let’s get introduced to him here on PFC:

Sen’s can be expected to be an oft-heard name in next year’s Berlin International Film Festival. His project Wagah, which will seek to interpret the ritual of every evening’s closure of the gates on the India-Pakistan border crossing in a larger context, has been selected by the festival as one of the five concepts selected from 180 entries from across the world for cinematic celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Kolkata-based Sen’s film, to be shot in the second half of 2008, will be premiered under the special section called My Wall at the festival next year, …

There are ways in which one follows a different culture, a different set of values, beliefs and mannerisms. It’s all highly subjective, but you do grow to be more inclined towards a particular way of life and less inclined towards the other. Your beliefs keep changing as you move through life. Lessons learnt, and stories heard.

Similar is the case with me. I see Bengali culture as an assortment of colors. Good bad ugly unforgettable, and like that.
Films make sense to me for the most or least weird reasons in the world. But sometimes, films are fun even if they have to scream to reach you. This entire hurdle to the screaming bit sometimes gets more visible while one is reacting to a medium. In cinema, that part manifests in the look of a film, the camera and the likes.

A film works on multiple levels. The story, the way the …

iView Author:
Medha Dutt
(Kolkata, India)

E-mail:
primidutt [at] gmail [dot] com

“24 Truths per Second ”

The famous French New Wave director, Jean-Luc Godard, was very right when he said of Cinema, that it is “24 truths per second”. And nowhere do we find it more so than in the films of Ritwik Ghatak.

I know there are many others, like, Ray, Sen, Benegal, Nihalini, Mani Kaul, but maybe being a Ghatak fan, his name is the first to come to mind! No offense!

Ghatak’s filmography is deceptively small – in his lifetime, apart from short films …

Just saw Wes Anderson’s latest fratricidal fun-on-the-run The Darjeeling Limited! Totally loved it. Love the meandering (and seeking) nature of the narrative, which is similar in structure to the Coens’ comedy work but yet so different. And that’s got a lot to do with Anderson’s dialogues, which sound profound if put on paper but in the context of his films are completely redundant.

Like this scene towards the end of the film when Francis (Owen Wilson) unwraps his bandage to reveal the wounds he suffered in an accident (maybe attempted suicide). The three are all looking at the bathroom mirror, with brothers Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) checking out Francis’s bloody face reflected on the glass.
Francis: I guess I’ve still got a lot of healing to do.
Jack: Gettin’ there, though.
Peter: Anyway, it’s definitely going to add a lot of character to you.

It’s completely sumptuous but what makes …

AMOL GUPTE THE CHILD SPEAKS …. AT BAISCOPE EVENT

“BAISCOPE ENTERTAINMENT Presents In Association with PVR CINEMAS

Children in Cinema – Innocence & its Essence

A workshop with Amol Gupte & Deepa Bhatia
( Creative Director, Taare Zameen Per & Editor, Taare Zameen Per )

And NO…… This is NOT about the TZP controversies !!

An afternoon exploring the art and the process of working with children.

* The Orchestral Beauty of emotion
* Fake & Real Innocence – Its cinematic interpretation
* Guarding the Child

The workshop will also include an interactive session with Amol, Deepa and the audience (the film fraternity & the children accompanying them) .
It will be an organic process in working with children”

That was the event which immideately drew to our attention (mine and Phonix) and we landed up on the D day with our eyes and ears open and pen paper ready …. all set to listen to the man behind the …

iView Author:
SAWNYRIVER (Noida, India)

E-mail:
Withheld

Parallel Narratives

Recently our films have been replete with multiple storylines. Parallel narratives in both literature and films add a fascinating dimension. In its varying perspectives, this genre can make a work self-reflexive, layered, open ended and liberating. Because it disrupts the existence of a single unified reality, in some ways, it brings a work closer to reality.

Dosar and Yu Hota to Kya Hota are two recent films that deal with relationships using multiple storylines. In Dosar, Rituparno Ghosh uses a character based parallel narrative and in Yu Hota to Kya Hota, Naseeruddin Shah uses a location based parallel narrative. While Dosar delves into the theme of infidelity ,through the narratives of four couples, Yu Hota to Kya Hota speaks of the American dream and how it moulds the lives of four individuals.
…

“Agantuk” is the last “cinematic discourse” of the Satyajit Ray, who got realisation in the medium of cinema. His cinema is never superficial and even his lightest film carries several levels of undertone. He was a fantastic writer also and its not a somewhat strange fact that he created his cinema on the pattern of a good literature only. The satisfaction and deep meaning we get through good literature, same meanings and learning we find in/through Satyajit Ray’s films.

He is not only a technical director who knows how to mix up 1 and 99 to make a film having 100 departments rather he was master in every department of film making. His films work on psychological levels. They dig human being, humanity, evolution of humanity, relationships and in that way they help in understanding the human life as anthropology does.

What a way he chose to say good bye to …

Four years back just after passing out of college, I started writing a film script. It was initially meant to be in Hindi but in the 1200-odd days (of writing, thinking, deleting, more writing, more deleting) that followed I figured out that I was better off making my first film in my regional language, Bengali.
Why? Well, because I have been a firm believer and I have written about this here on PFC that it’s very difficult to make a small Hindi film and get seen. You can scratch your heads and the two names you will come up with are Iqbal and Khosla Ka Ghosla. Exceptions like that prove the rule.
As a prospective first-time director I was not thinking of getting a big star cast or a big budget, both of which are inseparable concepts. So I thought I was better off making a small Bengali film with limited …

Prroshant Narayannan - hey you, this new spelling of your name really confuses me about where to put the extra ‘r’ and ‘n’ everytime I start punching it in - the ‘Badmash Banna’ on PFC, is up to a lot of things. He wrote about it sometime back, but since then has been silent. Wake up man. Here’s a provocation -the full text of an interview I did with him for an article in my paper (you can read it at : http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Dec162007/enter2007121541396.asp). So, here it goes, the unabridged version:

What are your roles in Bombil and Beatrice and Mr Singh / Mrs Mehta?

Bombil is a hit man in the year 2005. In his last birth he used to be a horse dealer, Vilas Godbole,in Matheran, where he meets a young girl, Beatrice, and falls in love and they promise to wait for each other even for a 100 …

The Indian Panorama for the 38th IFFI (Goa, Nov 23-Dec 3) has been just announced.

Lenin Rajendran’s “Ratri Mazha” (Night Rain) in Malayalam and Samir Chanda’s “Ek Nadir Galpo” (Story of a River) will represent India in the Asian-African-Latin American Competition section. The Panorama section will open with another Malayalam film, Shyamaprasad’s “Ore Kadal”.

The other films in Indian Panorama are B S Lingadevaru’s “Kada Beladingalu”, P R Ramdas Naidu’s “Moggina Jade” K Shivarudraiah’s “Daatu” (all Kannada), Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s “Naalu Pennungal”, Renjith’s “Kayyoppu”,
Babu Thiruvalla’s “Thaniye” (all Malayalam), Bhavna Talwar’s “Dharm”, Sameer Hanchate’s “Gafla” (both Hindi), Sanib Sabhapandit’s “Jaatingaa Ityadi” (Assamese), Mangesh Hadawale’s “Tingya”, Gajendra Ahire’s “Maai Baap”, Bipin Nadkarni’s “Aevdhe Se Aabhaal” and Vishal Bhandari’s “Kaalchakra” (all Marathi), Gnana Rajasekaran’s “Periyar” and Padma Magan’s “Ammuvagiya Naan” (both Tamil), Anjan Das’ “Jaara Brishtite Bhijechilo”, Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s “Ami, Yasin Aar Amaar Madhubala” (both Bengali), Makhonmani Mongsaba’s “Yenning Amadi Likia” (Manipuri).

The jury was headed by veteran …

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (dir Pradeep Sarkar) is an ‘inspirational’ work. That is what is being said in some sections of the media and the Net.

Here are 4 films which have similar story backgrounds. Decide for yourself.

1. Doghi (Sisters) Marathi (1995)

Dir: Sumitra Bhave & Sunil Sukhtankar; Cast: Renuka Daftardar, Sonali Kulkarni, Uttara Baokar, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Suryakant Mandre.

Synopsis: The story of two sisters, Gauri and Krishna, two ordinary middle-class girl in a village who, as their fate would have it, fall into different circumstances in life. After her husband’s fatal accident, Gauri comes to her poor brother in Bombay only to end up as a sex worker. Her sister, Krishna tries to help her in vain. A social drama with human pathos lifted by superb performances from the main cast.
It went to a lot of international film festivals and won some awards too, including Torino (Italy) where it …

IFFLA 2008 Announces Call for Entries
The Sixth Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) seeks narrative, documentary, music videos, experimental, children’s and animated films of any length and format. IFFLA will run April 22-27, 2008 at ArcLight Hollywood, a state-of-the-art facility located in the heart of Los Angeles. Jury and Audience Choice Prizes will be awarded for Best Feature, Documentary and Short Film.
IFFLA 2007 had over 6,000 attendees and screened 36 films from 8 countries. In addition to the high-quality of presentation of their work, filmmakers in attendance gained access to an eclectic mix of professionals from the Los Angeles film industry.

Check out what our past filmmakers …

Pickle, an online journal on the entertainment industry, believed to be backed by one industry body, has reported that the Film Federation of India (FFI) has started the process to select the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Film Oscar in the 80th Academy Award.

It says that a cross section of industry experts and critics contacted by it “squared in on” Feroz Abbas Khan’s Gandhi My Father (Hindi), Ameer Sultan’s Paruthiveeran (Tamil) and Maniratnam’s Guru (Hindi) as their favourite choice for nomination from India for the Oscars.

Some of the other films that are in the “radar of Oscar watchers” are Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Eklavya (Hindi), Shanker’s Sivaji (Tamil), Radhamohan’s Mozhi (Tamil) and Rosshan Andrews’ Notebook (Malayalam), it claims. But it adds the rider, “Analysts appreciated the films listed in this para but were not confident to bet on any of these movies.”

According to Pickle, Gandhi My Father and …

Some directors are editors also. Hrishikesh Mukharjee always enjoyed editing more than the direction. Tight editing is reflected in his films. Tight editing is the demand of the time also especially when film belongs to low budget category and there is no money to waste.
But there are very few directors who are editors also. Shekhar Kapur believes that he should have a woman editor so that her post shooting works can bring a balance in the footage he has shot from a male director’s point of view. He had liked immensely the editing work of Late Renu Saluja in Bandit Queen.

I have got this curiosity that what is better situation.

(1) A director is a good editor also Ala Hriskhesh Mukharjee. As Then he has full command on post shooting work also as he knows story well and the mood of the film he wanted to make so he can …

First, a lot of firsts. The first teaser of Saawariya (saawariyafilm.com) is out. This is the first Indian co-production of Sony Pictures. This is the first film of Rishi Kapoor’s son Ranvir Kapoor and Anil Kapoor’s daughter Sonam Kapoor. And it is being billed the first international film from India.

Oh, I forgot – it’s a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. The man who debuted with Khamoshi, went on to make Hum Dil De Chuka Sanam, Devdas and Black. Bhansali means a lot of things to a lot of people. For some he is modern Indian cinema’s only auteur, the only cinematic progeny of Guru Dutt, the only star director of our times. For others, he is a big ball of shit who disguises everything in grandiose but fake sets and copy-pastes other cinematic treatments calling them his own.

Well, the way I look at him, and the entire purpose of this …

Way of seeing

Francois Truffaut once said, “Every subject is a subject for cinema. It is only a matter of choice which subject suits which director.” It’s same with photography too.
Everything that lies before my eyes is a possible subject of photography. I pick and choose what suits me. What is suitable for me may not be suitable for any other person. What suits me best is in essence what I photograph. What I photograph in turn expresses what I am. In spite of the rigid technical parameters there is always a way for me. And that’s what is known as ‘way of seeing’.

The way we see things is always affected by what we know or believe. We only see what we look at. That’s our first choice. An image (Static or moving) is a replica, which has been detached from the place and time in which it made …

Mumbai rains played truant almost throughout July..Then suddendly today it started raining again..Not raining..But pouring..It hardly drizzles in Mumbai.

Whether it becomes Shanghai or not one thing is for sure, Mumbai scores over it in terms of rainfall. It receives almost the double the amount in Shanghai.For your gyan the average annual rainfall of 2120mm is almost double of Shanghai’s 1143 mm. Moreover no other global cities match Mumbai’s average.

‘Another unique aspect of Mumbai rains is that no other city handles as many intense rainy spells. Hongkong and Shanghai get six to seven months of rain, while Mumbai piles up its staggering average in just three very wet months.’ So much and such muck for Mumbai rains.

You might wonder what is the link between Mumbai rains and Bollywood.It’s said that Mumbai ki barsaat aur producer ki baat ka kabhi bharosa nahin kiya ja sakta( Mumbai rains and producers’ claim can’t …

The festival has concluded and has, like all the festivals, has left a warehouse of memories, experiences and conversations. Before I go into the films of Day Three and Four, I would like to confess that it gets telling on your reactive senses if you try to catch up with all the films, because a festival is lot more about than just films. In this particular one, they were showing films at two places, one of the regular screen, and one upstairs on Aquascope, so like they said on the opening, save the possibility for you being two places at one time, you can’t watch all the films. And while I used to doze off a little in midst of a film, I quietly used to sneak out and realize there is so much happening that you can only enjoy the moment without much planning …

Orwell’s prediction of the horrors of 1984 would seem mellow compared to what humanity really saw. In Delhi at least, thousands were massacred, families destroyed forever, the scum of humanity exposed, as justice still remains to be served. It’s a disgusting piece of our history that our government, which still employs many of those directly responsible, chooses to conveniently bury. In that context, it is of utmost importance for us Indian’s to look at ourselves through our own personal stories, to re-live the horror we allowed into our society, and hopefully prevent that from happening in the future. “Amu” tells one such personal story.

Kaju (Konkona Sensharma) arrives in India, appearing to be the stereotypical Indian-American in search of her roots, doing the rounds of the exotic side of the country with her camcorder. Adopted at the age of three and raised in Los Angeles by her foster …

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 …