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Have you ever woken up, from a deep slumber at the dead of the night, thanks to sound of the whistle or the “thak, thak” of the wooden stick of the locality / housing society guard? This was the topic Jaideep Varma dealt with in one of his write ups for a well-known English magazine some years ago. And in it lay the germ of an idea for a film, a film for which – in his own words – he had approached “20-25” producers, all unsuccessfully. That was the reason it took him several years to make Hulla (Uproar). The producers rejected his idea because some of them found it “flippant, too small a subject”, some wanted a star to be the protagonist, as against Jaideep’s choice of Sushant Singh in the role of a stockbroker who wants to sleep peacefully at night, and some said it the end …

Going to the movies this year has largely been a mind-numbing experience. I had just criticized Kismat Konnection a few weeks back, but compared to the fare that the next few weeks offered (Ugly Aur Pagli, Singh Is Kinng), it really feels like a criminally underrated classic now.

Till now, there have hardly been any films this year that were good or satisfying to an extent:

Mithya, I thought was excellent, even if only for Ranvir Shorey’s superbly funny and poignant performance that blew my mind totally. The film was nice and edgy, terse and full of dry wit, and yet it touched the heart. (Though some people I know happened to find it very ‘pseudo’, for some reason :) )

Aamir was thoroughly gripping, tense and a pleasure to watch. Kudos to everyone behind this brave little gem- especially Rajkumar Gupta, Rajeev Khandelwal and DOP Alphonse Roy- all of who did an …

When I had to write a post in a hurry with a nailgun pointed at my temple, I decided to do away with analysis, or insights and resorted to the tried and tested solution of the intellectually bankrupt. The List post.

We all know that the beginning sets the tone for the film, letting the audience know what to expect etc., and some even use it as a bookmark and mirror it in the last scene of the film to make some kinda statement. For my list, I shall use shots (single camera setup), scenes (single location/time with multiple shots), and sequences (scenes united by causality of action or theme) interchangeably freewilly without justification so that I may shoehorn some favorite moments in film that happen somewhere in the first 10 minutes of a movie.

But before that, a public service wank.

I am often amused when people compare their spontaneous experience …

It is very easy to say that Bollywood is famous for its song-and-dance sequences, bright colors and melodrama, but what is hardly ever touched upon in great detail is the presence of the divine in its storylines. The fascinating thing about Bollywood cinema is that the presence of religion and God is always a given, regardless of genre, time period or what have you.

Is it a first-of-its-kind study? I got this in the form of a press release. I feel the sample size is too, too small. The release does not give details of the “40 questions” that comprised the questionnaire.

Of interest to PFC writers and readers would be this sentence, “NRIs/PIOs consult….PassionForCinema.com (32.2%) on a regular basis”.

Here is what the release said the study has found:

Quote:

The Results Are Out!

We have heard that there are differences in the preferences of Indians and NRIs/PIOs when it comes to Bollywood. Well, how many statistics do we have to back up some of our basic assumptions regarding Bollywood and Bollywood�s target audiences? Now that the results of an international Bollywood research study conducted by Amanda Sodhi, a graduate of Marymount University, are out, we do have some numbers to work with!

According to the recent Bollywood research study Amanda administered on 93 NRIs/PIOs …

‘Lendormin’, is one of the most commonly used drug for curing insomnia. Now, the makers of the drug have stiff competition. Our own Priyadarshan has come up with a movie guaranteed to put u to sleep. It’s pace is slower than a paint peeling off a dry wall. A 150 year old snail who’s suffering from Arthritis would walk much faster. It’s called ‘Mere Baap Pehle Aap‘ (the movie’s name, not the snail’s).
Priyadarshan is known for his comedy movies, and he’s equally well known for his remakes (a euphemism for the term ‘rip-off’). But this time, he has made me cry. He has not only just ripped off a malayalam movie called Ishtam directed by Sibi Malayil, he has also made a royal hash out of it. All the …

iView Author:
ABHIJEET SINGH (India)

Email: 11.abhijeet[at] Gmail [dot] com

Film Discussions

Films and discussion go hand in hand but is the discussion of some level that is the big question.

Yes, There is a lot of discussion on films these days and why not its a large & a popular medium there should be a lot of discussion but at the same time a healthy one, discussions have been limited to criticism and even the writing on films have been targeted to individuals rather then a film on the whole. Press conference, Interview, Review or a General discussion on film mainly in the Electronic media moves away from the topic in a flash what comes into play is the personal life questions,

I have many a times observed a film critic for a leading news channel talk about things like the Hand bags …

There has been discussions here before on Movies, their marketing and challenges we face in dealing with piracy - i say ‘we’ here for convenience sake (devlish-eheh). India Today organised a conclave with different entrepreneurs and main speakers Aamir Khan, Shekhar Kapur (moderator) and Ashok Amritraj recently (i believe they do it ever year) and aamirkhan.org has put up videos of the event on Youtube for all of us to see.

Aamir had this to say in an interview at the Conclave

Q: Taare Zameen Par touched many hearts. Do you think you have been successful in integrating commercial and art cinema?
Firstly, I don’t believe in the concept of art and commercial cinema. I have never distinguished them. For me, the main aim is make popular films which cater to the popular market, to the masses. To me, the audience is the one that decides. Cinema is an art form in itself. …