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i'm 3 today!

meetu — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0530

Posted by meetu on 12 Sep 2009 in Announcements | 9 comments

Photo courtesy: powerbooktrance on flickr.com

happy birthday to me

happy birthday to me

happy birthday dear wogma

happy birthday to me!

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9 comments so far:

Posted by Vikas Gupta on 13 Sep 2009, 10:26 p.m.

Congratulations and belated Happy B'day! :)

Posted by Divya on 14 Sep 2009, 12:10 p.m.

Hi Meetu,

i love ur reviews, very smart and doesnt give the movie at all. Happy birthday!!

Posted by Tarun Chandel on 14 Sep 2009, 9:57 p.m.

Sorry can't believe such things without a cake.

Posted by meetu on 15 Sep 2009, 11:43 a.m.

Thank you Vikas and Divya!!!

Tarun next time we meet pakka!

Posted by vipul on 17 Sep 2009, 9:57 a.m.

Congratulations dude .... ......

Posted by meetu on 19 Sep 2009, 11:31 a.m.

@vipul Thanks, dude!

Posted by Poonam on 21 Sep 2009, 2:01 p.m.

:whistles:

This calls for celebration! :)

Posted by meetu on 24 Sep 2009, 4:13 a.m.

But of course! @Poonam!! Come over any time...

Posted by Ujwala on 14 Nov 2009, 10:07 p.m.

stumbled across your blog and enjoyed reading the reviews. will be back. belated happy blog b'day!

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wogma usability survey

meetu — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:13:17 +0530

Posted by meetu on 8 Sep 2009 in Announcements | 4 comments

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4 comments so far:

Posted by sonal on 12 Oct 2009, 7:43 p.m.

i like wogma coz it reflects the views of an individual who doesnt claim to be an expert on movies. it is one source i read everytime a movie is out...

Posted by kapil on 10 Nov 2009, 1:37 a.m.

meetu's review on ajab prem ki ghazab kahani........I - well I didn't see the humor through most of the film. Somehow - hit-the-crotch, eunuchs-exist-that's-so-funny, Draupadi-like-undrape-Sari, people-falling-off-stairs, slapping-each-other, modified-cake-fights - don't even make me smile, smirk maybe, but nowhere near the grin-region.,.......this is so much like me....u r the perfect reviewer for me....

Posted by kapil on 10 Nov 2009, 1:43 a.m.

it's pretty hard to find good reviewers for hindi movies.....just look at the reviews in Times of India.....4 stars for dhoom 2 and Wanted !!!!! holy crap !!!!
I think a part of yash raj and karan johar movies' cost includes the money paid to ToI...lol

Posted by meetu on 10 Nov 2009, 12:52 p.m.

Thanks, people! Just the encouragement i look forward to :D

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Swine Flu attacks Kaminey

meetu — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:55:05 +0530

Posted by meetu on 17 Aug 2009 in Hindi Movies | 5 comments

Like all cinelovers in the Mumbai-Pune region who has been deprived of watching Kaminey, I too am sulking big-time at the irreplaceable loss of not being able to watch it first day first show.

Like the rest of the bolly-crazy nation, I too was waiting eagerly-bordering-impatiently for this release. Imagine being on the edge of the seat even when you are not sitting. A Vishal Bharadwaj film. One needn’t say more.

Oh well…

Swine flu struck.

Theaters closed in Pune.

I come to Mumbai to catch one of the paid previews.

Theaters in Mumbai are now shut. I have an internet booking which no one is ready to confirm either way.

Oh well…

I am still trying to figure out where I could go to catch the movie. Maybe another road trip, magically maybe some theater somewhere. There has to be a way. There just has to!

We shall satisfy ourselves with reading reviews that are out so far. For the record, I haven’t read any of them, I just know the freaking 4/5 and 4.5/5 ratings. Why? What if they give the story away? That’d be a disaster. Raja Sen’s review on Rediff.com Taran Adarsh’s review on <Bollywood Hungama.

Yeah fellow Mumbai-Pune-ites, I know. I it hurts. BAD!

Oh well…

Aaja aaja flu nichodein Raat ko H1 todein Koi good luck nikalein Aaj N1 ko phodein No dhan ta nan in sight for me :( :\ :/ :’(

Oh well…

But one shall keep trying.

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5 comments so far:

Posted by Nisha on 14 Aug 2009, 3:17 a.m.

I saw Kaminey! Shall wait for u to review it though!

Posted by Noopur Bora on 15 Aug 2009, 1:55 p.m.

kamina fwine flu......

Posted by theSuda on 17 Aug 2009, 9:58 a.m.

Hi Meetu,
Have a look at this list: http://www.ufomoviez.com/Movie_Details.aspx?RO_Movie_ID=1471&Movie_Id=1521

I guess you have heard about UFO Movies company which distributes movies in High Quality to one screen theaters all over the India. If multiplexes are Shut Down then catch one of these ;) Most of them are Non-AC though :D :D

Posted by MovieL on 27 Aug 2009, 8:54 p.m.

One of the best movies in recent times, better than all the other Kaminey Movies.

Posted by Hindi Movie Star on 27 Oct 2009, 1:53 a.m.

Yes, swine flu hit it bad, but it is a very nice movie, I just loved it !

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A R Rahman Live in Jai Ho Concert at Pune

meetu — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:50:17 +0530

Posted by meetu on 2 Jun 2009 in Just-a-Thought | 1 comment

Feeling cheated and yet Rahman Rocks!

I don't think we need any explanations on why 'Rahman Rocks'. I feel inadequate to use adjectives to describe his compositions. But, I cannot resist mentioning that he is just an awesome singer.

His performance of "Khwaja" (Jodha Akbar), "Arziyan" (Delhi 6), and of course "Jai Ho" (Slumdog Millionaire) were brilliant. He also played a wide range of snippets from romantic numbers on the piano. The highlight of the show was the medley of tunes created by Rahman, scratched and brilliantly mixed into one long piece.

So, yes the concert in terms of performances was enjoyable.

BUT, there had to be a 'but'...there was nothing else, absolutely nothing else added to the audience's pleasure. The first let down was the entry to the venue. No, I'm not talking of the haphazard parking issues and hideous traffic management. As a friend put it, 'management' is too big a word to be used in this context.

I was completely put off by the ground on which the show was organized. The passes and the website mentioned "Balewadi Stadium" or "Balewadi Stadium Complex" as the venue, which implied that the show would be at the stadium. Else the complex is known as "Balewadi Sports Complex" or "Sports City". To quote the same friend - the venue should have read "off Balewadi Stadium". Oh well, looks like I missed some finer print.

So, there was this mega-rectangle of a ground accommodating over 20000 people, and the stage was at one of the shorter edges. Then there was some comfortable seating for the VVIP section and the higher priced seats. And yet I don't think anyone after the 10th row had a clear view of the stage. We were at this 'stadium' with no stadium sitting. I was in the Rs. 1000 section which was rows after rows of plastic chairs. Utter chaos with people piling chairs on chairs to gain height, or worse, standing on the chairs. . I'm sure the stage was a dot to the standing passes which cost Rs. 450 per head.The least the 'organizers' could have done was to have screens spread evenly across the ground. A better sound system that was tested for acoustics would have been nice too.

Well, maybe it was a game of expectations. But, seriously, had I known that I'll be shelling Rs. 7000 for my family of 7 to have a intermittent view of the stage punctuated by towers constructed to hold speakers and the likes, I would certainly have reconsidered.

Add to this the near-zero interaction between the performers and the crowd. Earlier I've attended a few live shows - shows by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala and Palash Sen. All of them had an awesome connection with the audience. Yes, even Palash Sen, though I didn't quite enjoy the songs. Though Lata Mangeshkar herself is not peppy and bubbly and likes to focus on her singing, she had a couple of other performers who filled that gap and her talks between the songs would engage the audience. I digress.

The second huge let-down were the compères. Of all the people, RJ Aditi and RJ Shrikant!?!? Yikes. I felt like apologizing on behalf of Pune to all the non-Puneites in the audience. Was A. R. Rahman not given an opportunity to audition them? Did he not listen to a single line from one of their Radio shows? They very obviously no script ready, so of course they hadn't anything to rehearse. They were absolutely unprepared and looked like they were snatching attention from each other. I can understand that they were flabbergasted to be on the same platform as A. R. Rahman and Lata Mangeshkar. But, isn't an MC supposed to get over that, like quickly? Maybe there's a reason they are called MCs. Enough said.

Then there were the beneficiaries who shamelessly took too much of what could have been Rahman-time. This of course provoked a lot of 'boos'. No audience must have clapped so hard in the second line of a speech implying, "dude, we are done with your talk". This is the first time I saw a speaker cut his address short because of audience reaction. So much so that, Lata Mangeshkar who was the next speaker started with, "Will you listen if I talk?"

Sure, overall the concert was disappointing. But, I wanted to go to this one for my kids. And my son enjoyed every bit. As far as I'm concerned, with no view, and no back and forth with the artists, I decided to close my eyes and focus on Rahman's compositions and the wonderful voices. And that was immensely satisfying.

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1 comment so far:

Posted by dhrithi on 22 Oct 2009, 3:22 p.m.

Watch the A R Rahman Live Jai Ho concert will be held at the GMR Arena HYderabad. This will be the first live concert in Hyderabad for India's pride, AR Rahman
http://www.bindaasbharat.com/TopTenMovieName.aspx?TMovieId=2540

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Revisiting DDLJ

meetu — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:39:51 +0530

Posted by meetu on 12 May 2009 in Just-a-Thought | 2 comments

For the uninitiated, DDLJ stands for Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. And since you’ve apparently not seen the movie yet, don't read this, go watch it at Maratha Mandir, Mumbai. 700+ weeks and the balcony was still full.

There's something really warm about visiting a heritage theater and watching a film that 2 generations swear by. Whether or not you like the film, the experience is worth the ride to Mumbai, non-A/C, uncomfortable seats, archaic sound system notwithstanding.

The first time I watched this film was after it was running for 6 months...yeah, those weren't the 'first day first show' days...and all the hype created took its toll. I couldn't see the big deal and, in fact, found it a bit too sappy. But, one thing stuck in my mind, "Wow, there is an alternative to eloping and shooting yourselves when your parents don't agree to your love. And what a dignified way too."

Sure there were films like Maine Pyaar Kiya where the protagonists made a more difficult choice but the families that were against the alliance make an unbelievable transformation. DDLJ certainly made a stronger statement in terms of the values it was trying to propagate.

While most of the sentimental parts made me roll my eyes all over again, the parts that I enjoyed all over again were the more macro bits. The transformation of an only-fun Raj (Shah Rukh Khan) into the all-loving and mega-respectful person doesn't seem unnatural at all. It seemed only natural for a guy who couldn't care less if he didn't want to, to bend backwards when he really wanted to. I could have totally done without Shah Rukh Khan's annoying laughter and stutter, but I cannot deny, albeit shyly and slyly, that I'd love to be looked at the way Raj looks at Simran (Kajol).

Interestingly enough, while the film is all about Raj's love for Simran, Simran is rather spineless. Very much like Raj, she can get her will if she really puts her mind to it. Only she has been raised the conservative way and has only so much gut or isn't raised to be confident about her decisions. Her respect for the older generation is natural yet it comes across as obligatory. Writer-director Aditya Chopra has his way of making the film about his lady protagonist but not really about her. How many people are completely mesmerized by the squealy Kajol? Ok, many. Now compare that to the people who can't stop sighing at the site of Raj. Do I really need a survey for this one?

Then comes the rogue of a father, Choudhary Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri) who is not too far from reality. He takes pride in his family succumbing to and saluting his wishes. Having him think that it was his decision in the end is certainly a master stroke by the writer. That was the only way a man like Baldev Singh would have liked the story to end.

Mamma-darling, Lajjo (Fareeda Jalal), is strong yet unsure. But her ~~fear~~ respect for her husband precedes everything else in her priorities or the priorities as she sees for her daughters. Remarkably enough, Chutki (Pooja Ruparel) is nothing like her mother or sister. I can see her getting away with more than what Simran was ever "allowed". An insight into the ways of a second child is evident here.

My complaint as I have against all films where the lead lady is being married off to someone else stands true here too. This poor chap is painted black the moment his name is mentioned in the film. What chance does he have? The audience doesn't once see him as a viable choice for their heroine.

There are tons and tons of micro events that were, and remain, extremely annoying. Some of the snore-worthy dialogues take away a lot from the charm of the characters. There are a couple of irritating characters used as comic relief just to help lengthen the runtime.

Nevertheless, the smell of a single screen theater, the entirely different crowd around you, the feeling of being a part of history, the entire ambience, is so abstract that it has to be experienced. Go fall in love with the essence of "Bollywood".

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2 comments so far:

Posted by seo expert on 19 Sep 2009, 5:11 p.m.

DDLJ definitely one of the FINEST made movies I've seen. It's complete.

Posted by Anoop on 24 Sep 2009, 1:07 a.m.

DDLJ is the one movie I have seen most... in theater. I have seen it 12 times in theater. I normally will go out of the theatre, once the photo comes in hand of Amrish Puri...

Kajol, gave a stupendous performance, and i loved her appearance in the film. I saw the film, mainly.. or shall i say... only because of her.. this many times.

Apart from that cute factor and the reminiscence or nostalgia factor of the film or the heroines.. the indianess of the film... is stupendous.. and ever lasting...

Let the film run for another 5 years.. lets say another decade...

I would love to be at Maratha Mandir Noon Show watching DDLJ in the winter of 2017....

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Keep It Going

meetu — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:46:27 +0530

Posted by meetu on 1 May 2009 in Just-a-Thought | 0 comments

In tough times like "new release strikes!", the theaters are pumping fists and feet in air trying to entice viewers. So, it’s good news for all ye out there who either missed some of the "superhits" in the last couple years. Or for those of you who don't mind a repeat viewing to survive the drought. This week my local theater is playing the following -

Which ones would I like to watch again? Hmmm...A Wednesday because of the wonderful performance by Naseeruddin Shah. And maybe Life in a Metro.just because its so human and its about relationships.

On the other hand Race and Jodhaa Akbar are completely out of the question, because the former was just about tolerable as a first watch, and the latter was excruciatingly long and bored me out of my wits. Why anyone who missed them should want to watch them is beyond me.

But the best news is Gulaal is still playing. Yay!! Might just go and watch that again.

Interestingly, this strike has given a lot of exposure to regional films. I've never seen such response to Marathi films in Pune. was sold out on a weekday afternoon. And so is today's release Gallit Gondhal Dillit Mujra. It's really exciting to watch such overwhelming response to films that might or might not have done well otherwise.

I'm off to watch the Gallit... in a bit.

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Making news

meetu — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:52:59 +0530

Posted by meetu on 24 Apr 2009 in Just-a-Thought | 0 comments

My husband (Navin Kabra) was in the news lately... Trust me, there's a reason why this is on wogma. Watch this -

Scroll down just a bit...

Well, this is on wogma because I co-wrote the dialogues and was hovering around, poking my nose while this film was being made - from concept to post-production. Yep, for those who haven't guessed it yet, this video was an elaborate April fool's day prank played on the readers of Navin's site, punetech.com and the truth was disclosed on April 2nd.

Let's back up a bit. So, PuneTech is a site where all information about interesting software technology in Pune is brought together. Navin came up with this concept of creating an April Fool viral with a news item in which PuneTech is featured.

Actually I wasn't too keen on being involved because of the highly slapsticky nature of the product. But then, when else would I get too see the film-making process from start to finish? Of course, I was aware that this film that was to be made for the web medium would be fairly simple and an actual film, even a short, would be at least 100% more complicated.

Even so, I gave in to the temptation of being involved with the making of a film. Surprise! Surprise!! As I started writing the dialogues, I began enjoying the fact that it was slapsticky because it was going to be heavily sarcastic about media and its tendency to exaggerate any news item. The most fun bit was to border believability and be such that a keen observer would catch.

I could write almost anything, translate it into flowery Hindi and tada! my job was done. Any mistake and I could say, that's how some news items are presented! Oops! Did I leave the cat out of the bag?

Needless to say, I absolutely enjoyed every bit of the process. From auditioning to a little bit of production management that it needed to watching the editor at work. Everything as fascinating as I had imagined it to be.

Ultimately it was a friends and family film. A-part-of-my-heart friends Nitin and Shreyas took care of the core departments. Amongst many other ad films, Nitin has been assistant director in the Pune unit of A Mighty Heart and more recently some of theAirtel ads. Shreyas enthusiastically signed up as co-writer, director of photography, editor and anyone else the film needed. My favorite ad film from the work he's done so far is the Pathan brothers' Tata Indicom ad.

Neighbors, relatives and friends pitched in as actors. Parents provided location, everything needed to make everyone from light-dada to star-actor comfortable and a regular supply of caffeine and tannin products. I'm convinced all film-making is a lot of fun - not only intellectually but literally too. But, here's how we shared what fun we had.

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Kashyap and the music in his films

Noopur Bora — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:20:54 +0530

Posted by Noopur Bora on 23 Apr 2009 in Just-a-Thought | 0 comments

Anurag Kashyap – one may call him the flag bearer of independent cinema in India. He already is a superstar for all the aspiring directors in the country.

The cheer he garners for his blink-n-miss roles in his own films confirms this fact. But the "aarambh" (beginning) was never "prachand" (magnanimous) for him. Paanch was rejected by the censor board. Black Friday was delayed because of the controversial subject. No Smoking was murdered by the critics. His angry blogs kept him alive in that period. But now with Dev.D and Gulaal he has found his voice.

Kashyap's films boast of very interesting subjects, his style of shooting is very unique and unseen on Indian screens, and the dialogues are strong and realistic. So why specifically talk about the music in his films? Because the music in his films always is a part of the narrative. The way they merge with the storyline creates a great audio-visual experience. Though all the songs are situational and take a scene forward, they sound great even when they are heard individually. Along with this, each film has different kind of music. Right from Paanch he has experimented with different genres and has come up with interesting pieces. Not to mention that, he has worked with the who's who of the Indian music world to the newbies. From Gulzaar to Vishal Bharadwaj to Piyush Mishra to Amit Trivedi he has had support from one talent house after another. Chartbusters or not, but his films boast of unique music.

Paanch (2003)
Music: Vishal Bharadwaj
Lyrics: Abbas Tyrewala

Main Khuda
Singer: Kay Kay

This thriller revolved around a rock band. Vishal Bharadwaj gave one of the best Hindi rock songs of that time, rendered impeccably by Kay Kay. It's sad that very few people might have heard this song. These lines by Abbas Tyrewala perfectly reflect the youthful recklessness of the characters in the film.

Sar jhooka Khuda hoon main
Aasmaan pe khada hoon main
Main khuda, hoon khuda

(Bow, I'm the Lord
I stand above you all
I'm the Lord, the Lord)

Abbas Tyrewala and Anurag Kashyap never worked together again after this movie. Kashyap believes that Abbas has given himself up to the mainstream. That is why Ranvir Shorey's character (who accepts defeat to the powerful society) was named Abbas Tyrewala by Kashyap in the movie No Smoking.

The other notable songs in the movie are Tamas and Yeh Kaisa hai Shehar. Hope that Anurag can actually pull off the task of releasing this movie.

Black Friday
Music: Indian Ocean
Lyrics: Piyush Mishra

Bandeh
Singer: Rahul Ram

It is hard for me to write about something you like so much. With brilliant lyrics by Piyush Mishra to the tunes of Indian Ocean, this song creates such a strong impact that it leaves the mind blissfully blank when it's played during the end credits of the movie.

Arre ruk ja re bandeh, arre tham ja re bandeh
Ki kudrat has padegi ho
Arre neendein hai jakhmi
Arre sapne hai bhooke
Ki karvat phat padegi ho

(Wait, don't fight in name of god…
the creator will laugh at you..
Sleep is painful and
dreams are unfulfilled…)

A powerful song that testifies Anurag's great understanding of music. Other songs in the movie are mostly instrumentals played as background.

No Smoking
Music: Vishal Bharadwaj
Lyrics: Gulzaar

Ash Tray
Singer: Deva Sen Gupta

Bahut se aadhe bujhe huye din pade hai isme
Bahut si adhi jali huyi ratein gir padi hai
Yeh ash tray bharti jaa rahi hai

(Quite a few half-dead days lie here
Quite a few half-burnt nights have fallen here
These are now occupying this ash tray (of life) )

If you haven't heard it, you have missed out on one of the best Hindi trance songs ever. A song about days and nights lost, this song surely will make one feel blue. Haunting vocals by Deva Sen Gupta and pensive lyrics by Gulzaar makes you listen to this song in a loop. The more you listen to it the more it grows on to you. One wonders, "Where are you Deva Sen Gupta?" Brilliant!

Kash Laga
Singers: Sukhwinder Singh, Daler Mehndi, Vishal Bharadwaj

The list of the singers itself will make one expect this to be a great song. And great song it is. Wonderful lyrics and superb rendition. Vishal Bharadwaj at his innovative best.

Yeh jahaan ek faani hai
Bulbula hai paani hai
Bulbulon pe rukna kya?
Paaniyon pe behta jaa

(This life is a series of bubbles...
Why let each bubbles bother you?
Flow with the water they form)

Phoonk De
Singer: Sukhwinder Singh

The female version of the song, picturised on Bipasha Basu, was heavily used for promotional purposes. But the male version sung by Sukhwinder Singh is the one which plays in the movie. Fantastic number. Not to mention, great lyrics and vocals.

Dev.D
Music: Amit Trivedi
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya

Eighteen Songs. All chartbusters. Amit Trivedi became an overnight star after the music was out. Though his work in Aamir was highly appreciated by those who heard it, yet the album went unnoticed. With Dev D Amit Trivedi had actually arrived. Be it Punjabi bhangra numbers, rajasthani folk, fusion, electonica or rock music, he nailed everything. He composed a brass band song and made it a national break-up anthem. Need I say more? Anurag calls Amit Trivedi as the poor man's A.R.Rahman.

Listen to Nayan Tarse, Emotional Atyachar (both versions), Pardesi Ek Hulchul Si, Aankh Micholi, Duniya… I am tired. Listen to all the songs. They rock.

Gulaal
Music: Piyush Mishra
Lyrics: Piyush Mishra

Aarambh
Singers: Rahul Ram, Piyush Mishra

Aarambh hai prachand
Bole mastakon ke jhund
Aaj jung ki ghadi ki tum guhaar do
Aan baan shaan
Yaki jaan ka ho daan
Aaj ek dhanush ke baan par utaar do

(the beginning is enormous
The number in the mob are evidence
It is war-time
Honor or respect
Or a sacrifice of life
It's time to draw all of it on an arrow)

Piyush Mishra and Kashyap unite together after Black Friday. Gulaal is lyrically one of the most powerful albums. Each song has powerful lyrics. All credit to Piyush Mishra. Aarambh urges one to fight. It calls for revolution. The beats of the song are similar to the revolutionary songs we sung in school.

Other songs in the album like Yaara Maula and Shehar have to be heard for their incredible lyrics. A fantastic album which proves that Anurag really knows his music.

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Update your wogma e-mail or RSS subscription soon

meetu — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:35:00 +0530

Posted by meetu on 22 Feb 2009 in Announcements | 0 comments

Dear Readers,

As you might already know, I recently revamped the site 'Without Giving the Movie Away' - the hindi movie review site you have been subscribed to.

Please ignore this note, if you are subscribed to the new feed. That is if you visited the new site and subscribed to any of the feeds in the subscription box, please ignore the following. If you didn't do that there's some good news and some bad news.

Since the website address has moved from its long name to www.wogma.com the subscription details will change too. For technical reasons you will need to subscribe to a new wogma feed. I'm extremely sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.

But, there's good news too! You now have a choice.

E-mail subscribers:

If you wish to continue getting e-mails with the latest updates on wogma like you have been so far, click here for 'all content'
If you want to get only reviews, you now have an option to do that. Just click here for 'only reviews'
If you want to get only non-reviews, like the buzz (preview posts), essays, etc you can do that. Click here to get 'only features'

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You can subscribe to:

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And the bad news of course is, I will stop updating the old feed on Feb 25th. Hurry up, and join us at our new location!!

Thanks for your cooperation and hope to see you on the new feeds,

- meetu

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Roland Reber: I deeply believe in creative expression

Maitreyee Manglurkar — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:35:00 +0530

Posted by Maitreyee Manglurkar on 21 Feb 2009 in PIFF | 0 comments

Noted German director, Roland Reber was present at PIFF this year with his film 'My Dreams or Loneliness Never Walks Alone'. Film festivals are not just to promote films but it's about networking and a brand new opportunity to learn, unlearn, explore and expand.

How did the idea for this film come about?

This movie is based on a play made in the eighties. My wife was de-cluttering and she had put out a lot of books. When I was going through a few I came across this play in which the protagonist sets out to find himself. I decided to adapt the story to fit in to the scenario of a media critic. I discussed this with the others and we agreed to do this film.

How does your production house, WTP work?

I first write a skeleton and structure of the film and then everyone in my team brain storms. I deeply believe in creative expression. The director can't make the final call on all grounds. Each one in every department should be involved with the making of the film. We are all creative people so I don’t see any reason why one’s creative input should be shunned for the other. If one has a right opinion that makes a path for the vision of the cinema it is only going to enhance our product.

I refuse to sit for editing sessions and always prefer watching the final product and not once have I been disappointed.”

Your film has been categorized by you as dramedy. Could you share the reasons for this?

Whatever you categorize the film as, after all the audience will always walk out with their own unique interpretation of the film. I personally do not like the idea of categories but for the promotion of the film we had to give it a category so we came up with the category dramedy which is simple, a dramatic comedy or a comic drama.

Could directors move from theatre to films?

I firstly believe that a director must be an actor himself. Finally I am directing the act and I must know what it is like. One it helps and facilitates my work as a director and secondly it keeps me in a better position to express my vision as a director. Moving from theatre to films should not be such a hassle after that.

Your thoughts on German Cinema.

The commercial German cinema is more and more influenced by American cinema. I pity the young generation of cinema makers in Germany who fail to explore any form of creativity but blindly remake American cinema. But this is the scenario in West Germany. In East Germany one can observe brilliant acting and filming techniques and skills, but sadly enough they are still regarded as the second class in Germany.

We have multiplexes and then we have ‘Art Houses’ for meaningful and original German cinema.

Your thoughts on PIFF in comparison to the other film festivals.

I have attended a lot of film festivals and I have seen how all these festivals are high on the glamour quotient but lack content and meaning. It is always about the parties and the frolic that follows it is not about the films. However at PIFF the parties are like a meeting point a confluence where in I discovered a lot of potential for co-production. When we leave Pune we might have two co-productions in the pipeline.

* * *

Ronald Reber’s thoughts and views surely confirmed one thing, that the battle between the parallel cinema and the commercial cinema is a widespread concern. It’s not just an Indian concept and there are many more out there looking forward to clearing these differences.

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Stalled Perfectionism

meetu — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:35:00 +0530

Posted by meetu on 19 Feb 2009 in Just-a-Thought | 0 comments

In Ghajini, the best sequence for me, and for everyone else I guess, was the one when Sanjay Singhania gets a bout of short term memory loss amidst the bashing of Ghajini Dharmatma and forgets everything only to be told by the latter that Ghajini was coming the other way.

This was one scene, and unfortunately the only, which reminded me of the intellect of an Aamir Khan movie. Sadly enough, the rest of the movie jostled through stereotypical South Indian action sequences, high pitched background scores, an apology for A.R. Rahman’s music, and an obtuse use of eight-packs all over. And this from someone who recently endowed us with a masterpiece like Taare Zameen Par. While Ghajini might be on its way to break loads of records and create unprecedented history, I an ardent fan of Aamir Khan, was taken aback.

Follow a fairly visible trail of the history of bollywood (for all those who are jingoistic enough for an unabashed, sudden and random spur of originality – The Indian Cinema) and there will be undeniable encounters with a quantity of landmarks. While many of these are proudly associated with the eminent legends of the industry, quite a few belong to the man who has been tagged by critics and the media alike as the perfectionist - Aamir Khan. There’s Lagaan where the underdogs won a cricket match against the British and in the process made the country taste the academy award nomination; there’s Dil Chahta Hai which gave the youth a penchant for extraordinary hairstyles and which enjoys a cult following till today; Rang De Basanti true to its tag line woke a generation which was surmised by the candle light marches that followed at India Gate at the onset of any national cause; Taare Zameen Par which made every mother comprehend the indescribable emotions of the apple of her eyes.

Among these recent cinematic works of genius of his, stand two of the much doubtful milestones namely Fanaa and Ghajini. In terms of records and box office collections these might have surpassed his other classics but the slightest discourse on cinematic virtue would almost certainly peel them off of any honor. One wonders how the scripts passed the supposedly picky and fastidious actor. While Fanaa proved to be a hopeless-shayari-stuffed run of the mill movie, Ghajini was a heartbreaking rip off of a Christopher Nolan masterpiece.

Aamir Khan himself, however, admits to these two not being his kind on his blog. He claims that even though they might be categorized as commercial films, it is the market strength and following of these films that allow him to take off beat tracks. While we as an audience have set a certain level from his works, we should but apprehend the fact that because he makes a large fan following and sets unparalleled box office collections is he able to take risks to raise the bar of cinema in general.

We naturally have come to expect more than the usual from him than what we might expect from other actors. The truth of this statement lies in the fact that immediate questions occurred in our minds when we were made to see one man beat every mortal alive in Ghajini while we almost automatically condoned the hand pump being lifted by the he-man clone Sunny Deol in Gadar. We have come to issue cinematic licenses quite easily to most actors save Aamir.

Despite all, Aamir Khan has paved his way out through the stereotype picturesque romantic escapism of Bollywood to enlighten the Indian audience on subjects that indubitably compel for more thought and time of the populace. He has emerged as the Howard Roark of Indian cinema. Fortunately or unfortunately, one seminal film from him makes us judge his other works on those grounds. Although it is important for him to excel commercially too, we as an audience look forward to the finest cinematic works from him, because we, unlike the protagonist of Ghajini, do not suffer from short term memory loss.

- Rajat Agarwal. (akrimony@gmail.com)

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Update subscription please

meetu — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:47:00 +0530

Posted by meetu on 15 Feb 2009 in Announcements | 0 comments

Dear Readers,

As you might already know, I recently revamped the site 'Without Giving the Movie Away' - the hindi movie review site you have been subscribed to.

But, there's good news too! You now have a choice.

E-mail subscribers:

If you wish to continue getting e-mails with the latest updates on wogma like you have been so far, click on - http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=WogmaAll
If you want to get only reviews, you now have an option to do that by clicking on http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=WogmaReviews

* * *

If you are subscribed using RSS feeds, you have more choices!

You can subscribe to:

all wogma content at http://feeds.feedburner.com/WogmaAll
only reviews at http://feeds.feedburner.com/WogmaReviews
only non-reviews (Buzz, interviews, essays) at http://feeds.feedburner.com/WogmaFeatures

And the bad news of course is, I will stop updating the old feed on Feb 25th. Hurry up, and join us at our new location!!

Thanks for your cooperation and hope to see you on the new feeds.

- meetu

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Gabhricha Paus: tragedy of a farmer through humour

Maitreyee Manglurkar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:01:09 +0530

Posted by Maitreyee Manglurkar on 11 Feb 2009 in PIFF | 0 comments

Even if “Gabhricha” is a local Vidharbha slang used by the debutant director Satish Manwar to criticise the rain that won’t pour, it rained praises for the film at the recently held Pune International Film Festival . Girish Kulkarni, the protagonist ‘Kisna’, who is contemplating suicide because he is fed up of the damned rain was seen along with director, Satish Manwar, Jyoti Subhash, who plays the protagonist’s mother and Prashant Pethe, producer at the festival. The film has not yet been released commercially but will be in theatres once the producer finds the finances for it. Prashant, who also co-produced “Valu”. revealed,

I was excited about doing this film. I knew I wanted to be a part of the project when I finished reading the script. The plot and the story had an undying simplicity that was hard to miss. I finished reading the script in 45 minutes flat. , I have tried my hand at writing and I know how difficult it can get but what Satish presented to me was plain beautiful. I was touched by the subject and so took up the project to also grow as a human being. But now we are awaiting a commercial release because frankly I have run out of finances.

Satish Manwar is an alumni of the Lalit Kala Kendra, UoP. He is actively involved in directing experimental Marathi theatre. Jyoti Subhash is a veteran actress and brings to life a new dimension in the film as Kisna’s mother and helps in carrying the plot forward. Here is what the cast and crew had to say about the film. Satish, initially thought of this script as a play, but then he felt that only a film can do justice to this script.

The atmosphere and the texture of a village could only be captured on reel. I come from a family of villagers myself so I was also clear on my vision of what I wanted to see and how. I wanted to put forth the plot on a larger scale as well, and films surely have a better reach than a stage play. Neither at inception or during execution did I look at it as a sensitive issue. I was very well aware of the different strategies that go in to making ends meet. I had no ambiguity of thought. The film will not bog any one down but the protagonist’s tragedy reveals itself through the humour in the film. You can call it a dark humour film than call it a film about a social issue.

Proud of having used humor to portray a dark subject,

People are used to showing horrid imagery to accompany dark subjects but that is only to hype the situation, it is not a natural representation of the reality. Quite a few producers I had approached earlier had various suggestions of gruesome imagery to bring out the punch. I did not see the point. We have presented this film very simply through the four characters of the film; the humour that thus evolves between the characters is also only natural and has not been done as an effort to make the film humourous. The smile takes us beyond the smile to the emotion. I did not use it to avoid emotional baggage

The focus then turned to the earthy Jyoti Subhash,

There are very few films that can successfully continue without loosing track of the plot, I thought that this was one such film that had all the other ingredients successfully weaved in without loosing track of the subject being presented and so I decided to be a part of this film. Also there are very few films that highlight issues but the performances do not do justice to the characters. The script was a good read and I must say that Satish’s theatre background helped him write a good script.

Girish on the other hand has worked really hard to get through the pathos in the film,

I read about farmer suicide but never knew who they were. Through this film I got a closer look. We were touched and the stark nakedness of the subject stared us in the face. I was struggling to get through to Kisna. I spoke to numerous farmers who had various things to say. I reached a point where I could only speak to myself and realised that we have departed from the villages, it’s a different world out there, very different from our urban cities.

He also found the use of humor very enticing,

The humour in this film was not introduced to provide a relief from the darkness of the subject of suicide but rather it has been used to hold audiences, keep the horror of the fact that the protagonist might kill himself anytime and carries the film forward. The use of humour is unique. The humour in the end also throws the audiences off-track and a twist in the film surprises them. Also, the fact that Satish never treated the subject as an issue as he has seen the life first hand, this helped in keeping the representation natural.”

Hope the film releases soon for one and all to see, till then the film will continue to be screened in various film festivals and we hope the dark clouds make way for the damned rain to pour.

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John Lee: An exciting time to be alive

Anna Pande — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:30:00 +0530

Posted by Anna Pande on 7 Feb 2009 in Interviews | 0 comments

In the first part of his interview with wogma, John Lee, Dean of Whistling Woods International, shared his thoughts on Slumdog Millionaire and the future of the film-making industry in India. In the second part of the interview he talks about his experiences of film-making and makes some more exciting predictions for the future.

You are an author, teacher, global media and entertainment executive, director, producer and screenwriter. Was having a variety of roles an aim of yours or did it happen by accident?

It was never a plan of mine to do the many things that I’ve done. Most of my life has revolved around my family. I’ve always wanted to be in the entertainment business but we began having children in college so I got into business. But then, six years after graduating, one of the businesses I had a relationship with also had a relationship in the entertainment business so I was able to then enter into film-making. That was in 1976. I made my first motion picture then, then took it into the international marketplace, and sold rights. That began the process of understanding how the world of film-making works, and being involved in film-making on a global basis, which is important because we’re more global now than we’ve ever been. We’re just on the precipice of moving very quickly into a global community where it’s much easier to distribute motion pictures and to get them into people’s hands everywhere: theatres, i-pods, laptops and computers across the planet. It’s a very exciting time to be alive.

if it (a film) doesn’t speak to an audience and it only speaks to you (the film-maker)… get your therapy somewhere else!

How are you enjoying the experience of being a jury member at PIFF?

It’s been good. I have a broad taste in films. However, many independent film-makers are self-indulgent and think “I’ve got to be true to myself.” I think that’s important but the biggest tragedy for any film-maker is that nobody sees their work (not that their film doesn’t get produced, which is what most film-makers think). The worst thing, in my experience, is seeing a film-maker get their film done and it says everything they wanted it to say and no one sees it. Film festivals sometimes give them an opportunity to move into the marketplace and hopefully, the film-makers that are really self-indulgent, and I’ve seen some of those films here, will see the audience’s reaction and say, “ok, it was everything I wanted it to be but this film did not deserve to be made.” Because if it doesn’t speak to an audience and it only speaks to you (the film-maker)… get your therapy somewhere else! Not by spending so much money and so much time in doing it. Write your script. Every film is made three times anyway. Stop at the script level.

But I love film festivals and I love being here. The people at the festival have been fabulous – they’ve really had the spirit of what makes a good festival, the venues have been good and everyone has been very supportive of the artists.

Of all the films that you have worked on, which one are you most proud of?

Over time, pictures lose their specialness. Terminator, when it was made, was really a breakout film. It launched new special effects people but when you watch it today it’s real old school. There was no CGI or green screen back then. But it said something – it had an amazing super-objective that was really important and at the entertainment level it was a great popcorn film. So I’m proud of that.

I’m also proud of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because it managed to bring cultures together. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was very popular with American audiences and the reasons had to do with the dignity of the human soul and human rights, it had to do with our intimate lives; not sexual but intimate in that they bridge heaven somehow. It’s something that we don’t talk about much but it was expressed in this movie so openly that it was almost embarrassing! But I liked it; I wanted to be able to point to it and say, “yeah, I’ve felt that too” and all at once I have a connection with the Chinese that I didn’t have before.

Do you see Internet releases in the offing?

I think so. Big pictures lend themselves to the big screen. One interesting thing I see coming is that if someone wants to see a motion picture when it opens, anywhere on the planet, there should be a price tag for that. Even if it’s five hundred dollars to see it at your home, on the Friday night it opens, you should be able to pay that money and see it. Because if it was a one-on-one deal with the person who owns the copyright to the motion picture, they would say, “if you’re willing to spend this money, I’ll give to you on this date over the Internet.” A lot of it has to do with digital rights management but those things now are well in hand.

At your institute Whistling Woods, what are some of the key skills you teach your students?

Just above 15% of our student population come from outside India and that number’s growing. Most of the students that come in are young and they have a clear sense that today is not yesterday and we want to take Indian film-making to the next level. And they’re going to take it there. We teach them film but also digital film-making. So much of it now has to do with the kind of textural capture that lends itself to your project.

I saw a production that was all done on mobile phone cameras and it was so cool. The company had lots of money and sophisticated equipment but they chose cell phones because it lent itself to the texture of what was being said. And we’ll see more and more of this.

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John Lee: No bad time for a good story

Anna Pande — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:30:00 +0530

Posted by Anna Pande on 6 Feb 2009 in Interviews | 0 comments

In a two-part interview with wogma, John Lee, Dean of Whistling Woods International, shares his thoughts on Slumdog Millionaire and the future of the film-making industry in India.

What were some of the reasons that you decided to leave America and come to Mumbai?

There’s a re-balancing that’s going on, on the planet. The US has been a superpower for most of modern history. This is now shifting because the US has made other countries wealthy by having them do the work that they needed to have done. In that process, the two big countries with the biggest human resources and natural resources are Asian countries: mainland China and India. In these countries, the middle class has grown and it has enabled them to have more of a voice globally. And so their cultures are very important. The first picture experience that I had was in mainland China with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the whole focus of that film was to make a picture that was exportable. In order to do that we ended up making a film that didn’t do well in mainland China but did very well outside of Asia – all over Europe, in the US. At the time there wasn’t anything that was releasable in a multiplex in the US or the UK, Germany or France that came out of China and this was. It’s an exciting proposition.

India is a superpower; it just hasn’t shifted into gear

And there really hasn’t been an Indian film that’s done that yet, and there needs to be. Indian motion pictures are much closer to the kind of pictures that are mainstream in other markets. It’s odd to see a film-maker like Danny Boyle come over here and recognise the film-making structure that’s over here – great cinematographers, great directors, great line-producing people and editors etc. but also great stories. And a very intriguing culture. And to pick up a book that’s a decidedly Indian story and then draw into it this new component of a game show – it’s pretty extraordinary and it’s doing very well both critically and with audiences. It’s crazy to have Danny exploit the film-making power and the culture of India and make a picture that gets wide acclaim. He had a co-director, which is really unusual and I think a first for him. She was an Indian director and a woman which I think is a great thing! But I hope this opens the way and demonstrates the kind of power that’s here and that should be exercised. Because some of the films that are made here lend themselves to unique versions that would go into other territories, just like the US exports its motion pictures. In fact, 70% of its income comes from outside the US. So it’s a good model for other cultures, especially superpower cultures like India. India is a superpower; it just hasn’t shifted into gear. There are a few things that need to happen here such as rebuilding the infrastructure. It’s all about the people who control India’s destiny at the moment recognizing what needs to be done and shifting the resources into that place.

But you’re positive about the future of Indian films abroad…

Yes, I think there’s no escape, it’s just a matter of how soon the focus will begin to shift and how quickly the resources will begin to be invested. It’s got to happen; the world demands it and India’s film-making industry deserves it.

There’s the directing talent and the below-the-line...it's just the stories that are a problem here.

What sort of talent have you seen here in India?

There’s the directing talent and the below-the-line talent – cinematographers and everyone else in that arena and the above-the-line talent for sure – actors, directors and producers. It’s just the stories. Stories are dialled in so well for mainstream Indian audiences but even those audiences are beginning to shift and a lot of it has to do with global cinema. Even if you enjoy, for example, food that you’re brought up with, that doesn’t mean that when you come across some new food that’s really tasty, you don’t want that as well. And often you want it with the spin of what you’re used to. This is true of pictures that come into India and the same thing needs to be true going in the other direction.

But wouldn’t Indian film-makers say then that French film-makers have to make a movie catered to the Indian audience?

Look at the films coming in here from the United States – they’re made for US audiences before they come into India but then they are edited and put together in an optimal way for the Indian audiences before they come here.

If you look at the running times of a particular motion picture, you’ll notice that there are many different pictures with different running times. Sometimes a picture that is made in the United States and is exported to Japan is a longer version. They aren’t cut like for television: they’re optimised. They will film for the US version and then, while they’re on the set, they’ll say “now we’re going to do the French take”… “we’re now going to do a German take” etc.

Does the body language change?

The script language changes. You’ll have scenes for certain countries that you won’t have for other countries. Jerry Bruckheimer, when he did Pearl Harbor, went to Michael Bay and said, “We’re going to do ‘Titanic’ only Titanic”. And of course, everyone would love to have the earnings profile of Titanic and Bruckheimer did very well with Pearl Harbor. But the story for Pearl Harbor, for Japan especially, needed to be shifted. So, they got together with the distributor for Pearl Harbor in Japan and they reworked the material and that rework actually had an effect on the version that was released in the United States. There was additional material that was made for the Japan release that wasn’t used in the United States, and for the UK release and the German release as well. So most motion pictures have things done to them to optimise their earnings in that particular territory.

there’s no bad time to release a good story

Some Indian directors have been quoted as saying that the audience is not ready for a different story…

I think the Indian audience is ready. And it’s easy to test … When Indian audiences go to see pictures from other countries, sometimes they say “this doesn’t work for me” and for other ones they say “that was really cool … I would like to see more of that.” And when I hear Indian directors say “if we don’t have Bollywood dance numbers or if we don’t have this melodramatic sensitivity to the pictures, it won’t work for Indian audiences”, it’s like when a studio executive in the West says “Westerns are out” or “science fiction is out” – there’s no bad time to release a good story. The thing that’s out is bad stories, flat stories, inorganic stories. I’ve walked out of so many Indian films and heard Indian audiences say “hmmm it was ok”. What was it lacking? It just didn’t have the fire; it wasn’t captivating enough. That’s what they want and that’s what film-makers want as well. When we, as film-makers, aren’t enthusiastic about our movies, how can we expect the audience to be?

I was involved with Terminator, Jim Cameron's first break-out picture. He’s so passionate about his pictures but he also has a connection with the audience. If you look at Francis Ford Coppola in comparison, he’s passionate about his pictures but he’s not necessarily connected with the audience. He’s made films which the audiences could not figure out why he made them! They didn’t speak to them and those films lost money. Coppola’s a great film-maker but if you said, “Who’s the greatest film-maker: Ron Howard or Francis Ford Coppola?” it would be a tough call because they’ve both made some pretty amazing films. The unique thing about Ron Howard is that he’s never made a film that didn’t make money. Even his worst films have pleased the audiences enough that they’ve done well.

Watch out for the second part of this interview, where John Lee talks about his experiences of film-making and makes some exciting predictions for the future.

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Subhash Ghai: Black and White was not made to generate finance

Maitreyee Manglurkar — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:13:46 +0530

Posted by Maitreyee Manglurkar on 6 Feb 2009 in PIFF | 0 comments

When speaking about Subhash Ghai, films like Hero (1983), Ram Lakhan, or Taal come to mind. All films were blockbusters, with brilliant story lines and melodious music. He is the master mixer of the elements of the ideal Bollywood blockbuster, including songs and dances.

Although he is renowned for Bollywood masala, Ghai is continually looking for new subjects and stories to explore. His films look, feel and flow different from each other. Most of them have been claimed as masterpieces. One such experimental and unique film from the showman is Black and White. This film came as a surprise not only because of the lack of regular song and dance sequences or a grand star cast but also due to the gravity of the rather dark subject that the film deals with. It revolves around a suicide bomber and his own ‘jihaad’.

While opening up about the film, here is what Subhash Ghai had to say

I thank one and all for screening my film in the festival.

I was watching the news on T.V. and I saw numerous killings. I could not help but think why this was happening. So I decided that maybe the answer lies in the terrorist’s mind. So I decided to get into the terrorist’s mind and thought of doing a film in which the protagonist is a terrorist. I met Hindu and Muslim scholars for my research. While making this film there was one thing I was very sure of: I did not want to make a judgmental film; I wanted to make a thought-provoking and a believable film.

I did not make Black and White to generate finance. I already have a lot of that.

He also mentioned that Anurag Sinha, who plays Numer Qazi (the protagonist), is the only actor that he has come across in his entire career who did not have to be told what I was expecting of him.

I did not have to direct him and I am very proud of him for this. Anurag had done immense research on the subject. He had made his own notes in the script. His research was so well done that when we started shooting for the film, his work came in handy on many occasions. It facilitated my work immensely.

Mukta Arts has produced Marathi films,

After Valu and Sanai Choughade.

In fact we have another Marathi project in the pipeline. The criterion for me to produce a film is simple. The film must have an element of honesty in it.

When asked about the dissolving differences between parallel and mainstream cinema Mr. Ghai said

I would not say that the difference has dissolved because I believe there is no matter of differences on these grounds; it is the diversity of thoughts that co-exists in harmony.

Anurag Sinha began his research on the subject of Black and White a lot on the Internet.

Later, to verify and gain more insight into the subject, I met ‘Maulvis’. In the process I found out that terrorists are taught six particular chapters of the ‘Quran’. I undertook a detailed study of those chapters as well. I also spoke to a few police officials.

The most interesting bit is that even though the film bombed at the box office, it saw the highest turn out of reporters at the meet.

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Jogwa: societal grime with aesthetic beauty

meetu — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:50:35 +0530

Posted by meetu on 5 Feb 2009 in Interviews | 0 comments

Jogawa is a Marathi word used to describe alms received by a Jogta or a Jogtini - a boy or a girl sentenced to devote their lives in the service of God by society. But, the crux is that the jogta/jogtini are servicing the members of the society that has imposed this ritual on them - their fear of the wrath of God, their insecurity that a God needs to be pleased by sacrifice...of teenagers.

Lead actor, Upendra Limaye and director, Rajeev Patil zealously described this ritual followed in a small pocket in Karnataka which they have translated into the Marathi movie, Jogwa. It was an awesome experience to spend some time with a set of enthusiastic people who were in town to exhibit their film at the Pune International Film Festival. They made sure I understood that -

The name 'Jogwa' might sound like it is art-house cinema. The name is not meant to declare it as a product of 'parallel' cinema. This is commercial cinema made for the masses.

Like with his earlier film, Sanai Chowgadhe director, Rajeev Patil has taken upon himself to showcase the crudeness of a society that calls itself civic, but just a layer underneath doesn't mind crushing individuality in the name of communal betterment.

The so-called societal rules are no less than bombs and we are the terrorists. We, who teach our children to pray and believe just because 'we said so.' A terrorist emphasizes his say and threatens with a bomb and we do the same and impose our beliefs in the name of 'tradition'.

In getting his point across Rajeev keeps two things in mind constantly -

It’s a dark topic but I want to articulate my insight with charm and beauty. Not only because that's a good technique but also because I want to bring the subject to as many people as possible.

Rajeev has tried to convey the shock that he faced when he met the young girls and boys married off to the Goddess by weaving it into a love story.

A jogta once chosen is stripped of his masculinity. He has to dress and accessorize himself as a woman, let alone giving up on his physical needs. He has no choice. If he revolts, he is stripped of his masculinity - this time physically. A jogtini is put to the most obvious use a member of the fairer gender can have. All identifying factors - caste, religion, identity, and very name are taken away from them and they are known as jogta or jogtini. What is worse, a few of them actually believe in their sainthood and that they are doing it for society. This because they have been trained to think so before they could form their opinions. And for others the cause is lost by the time they come of age. Any talk of human rights is only going to be laughed at.

While the focus is clearly on this particular tradition in some corner of rural India, Rajeev with writer Sanjay Patil are also commenting on the traditions that each one of us lives our daily life by. Even a small gesture like a morning prayer is deeply imbibed in us as a ritual; it is no more a personal choice. And even if one does not believe in it, society hasn't exactly made it easy on us to say it out loud.

Jogwa is set for commercial release some time in March this year. That the makers are passionate not only about film-making but are equally touched by the subject makes me look forward to the film for sure!

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Girish Kasaravalli: A legend of parallel cinema

Noopur Bora — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:30:00 +0530

Posted by Noopur Bora on 31 Jan 2009 in PIFF | 0 comments

A name that has grown from a very humble beginning in the interiors of Karnataka to a director of international repute. One of the contemporary legends in the world of cinema due to his Kannada films. A person every aspiring filmmaker looks up to. Girish Kasaravalli.

After three decades in the world of cinema, an envious track record of films and four national awards, Girish Kasaravalli still has the hunger for more. “It’s just my passion that keeps me going”, said the legendary director. Right from his first feature Ghatashraddha, which won the Golden Lotus in 1977, he has been outdoing his previous work.

In these times of a terror attack a month, when communal riots and terror have become a part of our daily routine, Kasaravalli's latest venture, Gulabi Talkies feels like a look in the mirror. At the Pune International Film festival for the screening of his latest feature , the director had a lot to share about what went into making this film.

The film is based on a novel by same name by Kannada writer, Vaidehi. Unlike my earlier films, where the story focused on the central character, this film talks about the community and the people of the village as a whole. The environment and the situation was as important as Gulabi herself.

He hasn't stuck completely to the original source though,

The film is not totally based on the novel, but influenced by it. The novel by Vaidehi is a great literary piece, but I made a lot of changes when I converted it to a film script. It has created a big controversy in Karnataka, though.

Gulabi Talkies differs in many ways, when compared to the director’s earlier works.

Yes, the style of filming is very different. I believe the plot of the movie decides the way it has to be shot. In this film we created a notion of an invisible director. As if the director, the cinematographer, and the camera don’t exist. Many a time, people in the frame didn’t even realize we were shooting.

A perfectionist, who works on his script and screenplay for months before taking it to the floor, was thrilled at the response the film was garnering. The movie just won the Karnataka state award for the Best film and Kasaravalli was awarded as the Best Director. Umashree, the lead actress of the film was also awarded the Best Actress Award. The master filmmaker was all praise for the upcoming directors.

They don’t follow the age old conventions of filmmaking and are coming up with new ideas and new styles. Some would call it ‘Imperfect Cinema’, but for me it’s the ‘New Age Cinema’

Talking about regional cinema the director said,

Most of the people relate Indian Cinema only to Hindi films. Indian cinema is much more than only hindi films. There are some great movies made in regional languages and people should take a note of it.

The veteran director is a gold medalist from the Film and Television Institute of India, which is based in Pune.

I learned a lot at the institute. It exposed me to world cinema. I owe a lot to Pune.

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Barah Anna: A common man's story

Maitreyee Manglurkar — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 06:12:56 +0530

Posted by Maitreyee Manglurkar on 25 Jan 2009 in PIFF | 0 comments

The recently concluded Pune International Film Festival was an occasion for some noteworthy appearances by film makers. One such film maker seen at the event was the maker of “Barah Anna”, Raja Menon sharing his thoughts. Speaking about his experiences during the making of the film Menon said, “In the process of making this film, I learned that cinema is not one person's medium. Everyone’s voice counts, may it be the producer, the camera man, the actors or any member of the unit. Every one's opinion leads to the final result.”

He went on to reveal how he conceived the idea for Barah Anna. “I used to see my watchman everyday and slowly, I started to interact with him and as I got to know him better, I realized that there isn’t much of a difference between him and me. Except for the fact that there was a difference in how much we earned. But at the end of the day, both of us were chasing a dream. And that’s what urged me to make this film.”

Also present was the star of the film Naseeruddin Shah. Speaking about his experiences of working with the younger generation of directors he said, “I definitely feel that the young generation of directors is more advanced in their craft. They also have a benefit as they are born in a more technically advanced age. Now the people they are working with are also more exposed. When we were young getting a photograph clicked was also an event, but kids nowadays are more used to cameras so the awkwardness is less. Directors nowadays talk of issues that directly concern us. The use of language has seen advancement too. Even in the times of my debut the films portrayed characters speaking chaste Hindi. Nowadays characters speak the colloquial language, the sort of ‘khichdi’ language that we speak. I was anxiously waiting for an age in cinema when the ‘khichdi’ language would be brought on screen. I am glad that the younger generation is doing that and I am glad to be a part of it.”

Producer of Barah Anna, Raj said, “I was keen to do this film because just halfway through the script, I was curious about the end. And now I am happy to be a part of the film. Another reason was that I felt this was an unique film with a fresh perspective.” Anuraddha Shetty, the production designer of the film and also Raja Menon’s wife added, “I knew the story since it’s inception so I already had visuals ready in my mind. The look as well as the design.”

During the course of the conversation, Naseeruddin Shah also shared what he felt about the public response to the film at PIFF. “There was surely a lot of applause, but I do not get carried away with it. I know that the audience is not applauding you it is applauding the dream that you are presenting to them in the form of your character in the film.” And what is it that drives him to sign a film? “I work on instinct. I can’t say I have always been right. You cannot always get an accurate idea about the film from the script.”

With someone as seasoned as Shah, there could be issues working with younger directors. But Shah insists he never had any clashes with them. “In fact, I might have had more thought clashes with veteran directors than the new age ones. And I can claim that no other actor has worked with so many new time directors as many as I have.”

Is this what being a director’s actor means? “I think it is the actor’s responsibility to deliver the directors vision. I prefer it if a director sees a character in me than I having to select my own work. I would any day trust the director’s judgment over mine.”

The film also stars other acclaimed actors like Vijay Raaz. Speaking about Raaz, Shah said, “Vijay Raaz can not only flawlessly and effortlessly represent the common man on screen but he can moreover present an abstract point of view of the common man. It will be a pity if the industry will not recognize him.”

The commercial cinema and the parallel cinema differences are dissolving, how do you feel about that? “I am very happy that these differences are dissolving. Anyhow I feel it is an artificial discrimination. Everyone in the industry gets slotted against their will. I feel every film is commercial, because every film has a producer who has invested in the project and is looking forward to recovery of the amount! I hope a day comes when the distinction will disappear.”

Shah has recently appeared in another film that focuses on the common man and the angst felt by him in the wake of the political machinery in the country appearing toothless. And he thinks that there is a common thread running between “A Wednesday” and Barah Anna. “Yes, there surely is, because they are real. I do not believe in films as a medium of education. Films are a medium of recording that particular time in which they are made. If 100 years from now someone wants to know what the 2000’s were like and if they find Barah Anna or A Wednesday they will surely not be getting a wrong picture of this time.”

But why Naseeruddin for the role of Shukla? “The character of Shukla was such that he had to keep quiet for half the film. He had to speak through his body language and not words. I could not think of anyone else but Naseeruddin Shah. And halfway through the film I knew I had taken the right decision,” said Menon.

Working with someone as methodical, experienced and skilled as Shah could be daunting for the co-stars. But the unit of Barah Anna didn’t seem to face any such issues. “We held a rehearsal workshop for two weeks before we started shooting. This broke the ice between the entire unit and a lot of things for the film changed as well. The script evolved in ways we had not thought of before. It did the film a lot of good,” said Menon.

With classics like Baaton Baaton Mein, Rajanigandha and others that have depicted the life of a common man in unique and effective ways, Barah Anna aims to do the same. The story addresses universal issues that the characters represent and this could be the film’s biggest winner added Shah. It’s one film that we are looking forward to for sure!

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Slumdog Millionaire -- Is it really poverty porn?

meetu — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:03:09 +0530

Posted by meetu on 23 Jan 2009 in World Cinema | 0 comments

Much has been said and written about Slumdog Millionaire’s depiction of India. Some insist it’s the real India while others think it’s a biased depiction of what the West sees India as. As a viewer and an Indian, I see merit in both arguments.

For long, the West has perceived India as a collection of slums. This movie will further this belief. To some extent, it seems like an extension of Salaam Bombay. But is it the real India? Definitely not the way we see it in 2009 (or 2008 when this was shot or 2006 where it was mostly set). And this does come through the movie. It’s unfortunate that the call centers have been brought in the movie as another stereotype of the growing or modern India. But it had to happen. It’s similar to the bias held about India being a collection of slums!

While Indian moviegoers - over the last few years - have been fed on the K-Jo, Yashraj formula of larger-than-life-beautiful-homes-perfect-families-foreign-settled people, this is far from reality. As we all can well attest to. So is that why this jarring reaction? Can we no longer tolerate the reality around us? It may not be our reality, but it is surely what is around us. Exploitation of orphans as beggars was also shown in Traffic Signal (albeit tackily) but that didn’t seem to jar us since the movie was made by an Indian. The real trouble here seems to be that a Britisher has shown us what’s around us. And honestly, that’s all he has done.

While I say that, I certainly won’t agree with those who argue that Indian film-makers cannot see the real India. How else would movies like Traffic Signal, Chandni Bar or even A Wednesday get made? If a foreign film-maker were to make something along the lines of Black Friday, will it make the incidents fictional?

Any angst about this movie (whether against the movie or against Indian film-makers) seems to be the fact that a stereotype has been breached. Certain crossover films and other disastrous collaborations (the kinds that brought us Marigold and even Bride and Prejudice) are not frowned upon because they extended the so-called values middle-class India extolls. And the moment the underbelly is exposed, everyone’s screaming. Well, keep your shirt on or you’re only going to show another underbelly - the hypocritical one!

When poor Mr Bachchan expressed his opinion, it got twisted and misinterpreted to such an extent that I can no longer remember what he actually meant! Why the defensiveness? Documentaries showing worse go unnoticed since they do not carry the weight of names like AR Rahman or Danny Boyle or Anil Kapoor with them. Is that why we don’t bother with them? The big difference between a documentary and Slumdog Millionaire could be that SM is a documentary with great entertainment value and a story told well.

Should we be getting upset about it? Heck no. Should we watch it? Hell, yea. But as what? A movie. That’s all it is. And a bloody good one at that.

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