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29th Jan 1:30 pm… I was out with my friends and Amma called me up to inform me about the demise of Bharath Gopi. The news gave me a shock and its strange that I feel this deep sadness nowadays when I hear such news …may be the closer i get to movies the more it hurts… I almost feel as if I have lost someone dear to me!!! I enquired immediately if it was his Paralysis that could have resurfaced and caused it !! No it was an attack she said.
I have lived most part of my life outside my home state of kerala, and never had a chance to actually see many of Gopi sir’s movies. I wish I could write and discuss extensively about him and give him the rightly deserved ode in PFC. But I know his work only superficially
So what I present here is …

iView Author:

GEORGE K ANTONEY (India)

Email:

Witheld

Finally - “THANMATRA”

I can see the light; the stream is faint but will get stronger. My hope is “blessy” !!!

Malayalam film industry is being forced into a third world situation with their markets being invaded by other regional language movies (tamil, telugu & hindi). Known for its realistic cinema of the 70 ies and 80 ies, Malayalam movies were forced to ape their neighbors but in vain. When I think about good Malayalam movies I always have to date back atleast 10 – 15 years, always mentioning names like “manichitra taal” “T P balagopalan M A” “chenkol” “chitram” “No: 20 madras mail” “spadigham” … its amazing I am not able to think of any good movie without Mohan lal !!! (Of course there were) and guess what?? My light of hope also stars “mohan lal” …

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 …

This Unni could have been named Murali. And why not, as Murali Nair – the one who had debuted with a Cannes Camera d’Or-winning Marana Simhasanam (The Death’s Throne) in 1999 – draws from his own childhood to come up with this delectable mix of innocent storytelling and subtle comments on the societal prejudices as seen through a child’s eyes.

Yes, Nair makes it more tantalizing by telling his audiences - as he did following a screening of his latest film at the 29th Festival of 3 Continents film festival in Nantes in France to an audience comprising yours truly as one of the minority adults amidst a gaggle of highly-curious French school children who seemed overawed after viewing this tale set in rural Kerala – that yes, there are autobiographical elements in his film, but they come with a generous doze of fictional elements. “Which one of the kids …

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 …

An old man walks into a palatial mansion/palace calling someone’s name. From the look of things, the building is undergoing renovation. He is shouting the name of the painter shouting instructions to complete the work. There is no answer from the painter and the man walks to the first floor. Suddenly he stops on the first floor lobby when he realizes that the person he is searching for is not present in the palace. At the same time, a big broom kept against the wall falls down. Nobody has touched it but the position was such that it could have fallen by itself. The man panics and is scared. He start to walks out of the house only to find the rocking chair near the door is rocking on its own. The man is terrified and he runs out of the house.

On watching the scene again, as the man …

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 …

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 …

I read santosh Sivan’s post on PFC and read comments from PFCers on how his frames invoked nostalgia. In my memory if there is one movie maker and cinematographer who could evoke such strong nostalgia, it would be , without a doubt Balu Mahendra. The camera movements and the frame composition in the movies he cranked would speak volumes of the mood and setting than a million lines of descriptive writing. I would like to take the liberty of being a member of PFC and recount the glorious days of Balu Mahendra, a man who loves cinema next only to his life.
Balu - the God of lens
Balu as cinephiles in south call him, is an FTII Pune graduate in cinematography, close pal of Amol Palekar and other Marathi film legends. He rapidly established his name as a cinematographer par excellence. While his contemporaries captured backdrop, colours and went for enormous …

Received from Worldwide Film Distribution yahoogroup… Please spread the word!

Let me take this opportunity to introduce you about me and social activities of our organization. …

I am working with a government organization, one of the most important & entertainment department called “NATIONAL FILM CIRCLE” is given to me and I am looking for your help to expand the membership.

What is “NATIONAL FILM CIRCLE” ?

The National Film Development Corporation Limited (NFDC) is a Government of India Enterprise set up with the objective of fostering excellence in Indian Cinema. It provides film enthusiasts in Mumbai an opportunity to see good meaningful World-Class Films throughout the year through the “NATIONAL FILM CIRCLE”.

For the past twenty-five years, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) has produced/co- produced more than 200 films in 15 languages, including English. Amongst these all several internationally acclaimed films like Gandhi, The Making of Mahatma, Mirch-Masala, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Sardar, Parinda and …

In our tribute to Deepti Naval, the screening of Mirch Masala on Saturday, April 21 @ 8:00 pm has been REPLACED by the stunning Main Zinda Hoon directed by Sudhir Mishra. This is a rare film that is not available on DVD, VHS, or VCD, and NFDC has been kind enough to strike a brand new subtitled print for us, specially for the tribute. Don’t miss one of Sudhir Mishra’s finest films and Deepti Naval’s best performances as this may be your only chance to watch the film on 35mm in Los Angeles. Book your tickets now at http://www.arclightcinemas.com. For more information on the full program, please visit http://indianfilmfestival.org.

IFFLA Live Webcast & Filmmaker Interviews

IFFLA is going live on the web this year. For those unable to join us here in Los Angeles, you too can be a part of the festival by checking out …

I never thought I will be writing my first post in an inebriated state, thanks to BACARDI black and SoCo (southern Comfort for the uninitiated). There are a multitude of reasons for this. Even as I would like to believe SoCo kinda rekindled my cinematic bearings, the main reason i guess is the UTSAV post. It took me to a time and place when I first saw this movie. The mention of the Asha/Lata duet prompted a quick search on Itunes and needless to say one thing lead to another- SoCo …. Bacardi with Rafi, Mannadey, Lata, Asha and Talat Mohammed for company.

Call me a hopeless romantic (I would refute it with all my miniscule wisdom), but there’s something more to an evening with the afore mentioned maestros and daaaru. All conversations lead to movies, songs, song writers, actors and the emotional undertone which they lent to umpteen lives. …

In celebration of its fifth anniversary, IFFLA has added a day making it a 6-day long event that runs April 17-22, 2007 at ArcLight Hollywood, a state-of-the-art facility located in the heart of Hollywood.
Tickets are now on sale online at www.arclightcinemas.com or at the ArcLight Hollywood box office. For more information on how to attend the festival, please visit www.indianfilmfestival.org.
Check out this year’s Film Program and our new Bollywood By Night series, late night 21+ screenings of extravagant, exuberant and energetic Bollywood blockbusters. Chill out, have a drink and enter a world that’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced!
We are proud to introduce IFFLA EcoVision, a program that aims to spread ecological awareness by showcasing films on sustainability, utilizing eco-friendly products and processes, working with eco-conscious non-profit organizations and celebrating Earth Day on Sunday April 22.
If you …

“Mohanlal can act with his back to the camera.”

A man enters hurriedly into a dimly lit but huge room. Mohanlal enters with a coffee “tumbler” in hand. He smiles and greets the guy warmly with his infectious smile. The man does not respond. He already seems restless and unnerved has come with a definite purpose. Mohanlal senses it and eases him. The man manages to utter “they have removed you from the party…..”…Mohanlal is a little surprised than shaken…he asks…..fumbles a bit… “what? who…….why…ok..ok….”. The man who conveyed the message looks at Mohanlal who gives him an assuring look and asks him to leave. The man unsure of what the reaction was leaves. Gauthami his wife looks in disbelief. Mohanlal’s face starts showing grief….as we and his wife notice that strain on his face he turn his back to us and his wife and slowly starts walking to …

All the talk about BB being not a good film makes me wonder. I went into it with the least of expectations, having heard of all the noise about it being unfair to Govinda, showing signs of a tired cast, a not funny Paresh Rawal, and this and that…

Let me say this, I haven’t seen a better handled comedy flick this year, save Khosla Ka Ghosla, a you-blink-you-miss screenplay, a strong story, make it a viewer’s delight.

Priyadarshan takes a new backdrop in this one-Theatre.

Though one might question why does his theatre only consist of Item numbers, the fun is worth a dekko nonetheless. Priyan has a sea of stories with him from his Malayalam kitty, and the richness of twists n tales indicate that. But there is a problem here, having being conditioned on brainless comic capers a la David Dhawan, one does not keep room for …

You wanted low budget, commercial movies?-Prem Naseer doled out 100’s of them, over 700 to give a ballpark figure. Cine Goers loved him, especially women who loved the tear jerker family dramas he acted in with Sheela, Sharada and Jayabharati.

If Sathyan was the upper-crust elitist’s accomplished actor, Prem Naseer was everybody’s hero, a true blue collar working class actor, who tirelessly churned out movies after movies for the rich and poor, the penniless farmers and the handrikshaw pullers, the coolies at the railway station and the expatriate malayalees, like my parents who moved to northern part of India looking for work and a better life. He romanced the heroines, beat up the bad guys, played the unemployed union activist, dedicated son and rich spoiled brat with a soft heart, with equal aplomb.

He made a good team with Adoor Bhasi as the comedic sidekick. As a lead pair, Sheela …

I don’t understand Malayalam. It is to me as any other foreign language as Japanese, Spanish or any African language for that matter. But I have heard a lot of things about Malayalam cinema. Mathew is a malu. Sometimes when I went to his house, I would find the whole family watching Malayalam movies on Malayalam channels. Everybody would be so engrossed in the movie that I felt like a foreigner there. The worst were the comedies. They would be laughing loudly but I would never understand the joke. I then started translating the movie for them, interpreting it in my own way unless someone would either shout at me or kick me out.
I asked him to teach me Malayalam but he only knew how to speak Malayalam and did not know how to teach me Malayalam. I have watched a couple of Malayalam movies here thanks to a …

What makes a master, Master?

“In Raj Kapoor’s Jis Des Mein Ganga Behti Hai, one guy plays an instrument and challenges Raj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor concedes to that guy and says you are really great, I don’t want to challenge you. I believe in that concept. As long as one thinks great of themselves, they do not achieve any thing.

Which is the reason I am always a learner. I have to update myself the new styles, new trends from the new guys. That is why I continue to bat. Though I am not hitting fours and sixes, I am not out either. One thing I am fortunate about is the time I entered. I got chance to work during the times of KV Reddy, Chakrapani, BN Reddy and other stalwarts. That is the golden age.”

Where does a master start?
Cinema has always been SSR’s object of passion. When approached …

Kazhcha – The Edge of Love

What did Malayalam film industry gain through the film “Kazhcha” in 2004??
The answer would be the dawn of a promising film maker - “Blessy”, who would definitely become one of the best directors in Malayalam cinema in a few years from now. This statement is made since just two films (his only 2 films) made him one of the best and reliable film makers in the industry.

The award for the best debutant director for the first movie and the best director award for the second movie would be one of the rarest achievements for a director in the industry.

When Mammootty was awarded the best actor in his first film - “Kaazhcha”, Mohanlal was awarded the best actor for his second film “Thanmathra”. Both of these movies can be considered as one of the best from them in their career.

Looking deep into Kazhcha

It would …