tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post3793586513144265061..comments2023-10-24T07:02:34.809-07:00Comments on Scribbles and Ramblings: Actor + Director = Seeking Repeat SuccessSachinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13227932224402555942noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post-38038497588423358042008-09-05T09:14:00.000-07:002008-09-05T09:14:00.000-07:00errr..typo..I meant:"I went through that phase as ...errr..typo..I meant:<BR/><BR/>"I went through that phase as well."Sachinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13227932224402555942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post-28781766972079296272008-09-05T09:12:00.000-07:002008-09-05T09:12:00.000-07:00Yeah Kabhi Ha Kabhi Na was completely different fr...Yeah <I>Kabhi Ha Kabhi Na</I> was completely different from the stuff that came around during those times. Plus I had a crush on Suchitra when that film came out :) I will dig up your <I>Jaane Tu..</I> review. I was quite disappointed with that film. It could have been much better. One of my problems with that film was how it incorporated commerical humour elements (the two Khan brothers who were funny but belonged more in a David Dhawan film, the talking painting) into a film that needed humour within the boundaries of the characters portrayed. Like in <I>Dil Chahta Hai</I>, the humour was introduced by the habits of the characters, not any over the top situations.<BR/><BR/>Ah Palika Bazaar. It has been a while since I went there. I remember there being a lot of video shops which sold VCDs/DVDs, but back then I never checked out how much international stuff they had. I remember the scene from <I>Distant</I> where Ceylan's character watched porn in secret but changed channels when his cousin came in. I can't remember if he stuffed the film in a Tarkvosky cover but I remember when his cousin asked what the VHS was, the guy mentioned that it was a boring Russian art film or something like that.<BR/><BR/>When I first got interested in literature, I stayed away from anything by Indian, Canadian or American authors. I felt I had nothing to learn from them but over time, I have changed my views. Now I try to read whatever interests me, no matter where it is from. And when I go back to India, I do hunt around Delhi for books, especially those by Indian authors :) Also I do try to find independant Indian films, something which is hard to come across.<BR/><BR/>And I know what you mean by only watching Foreign cinema. I went through that phast as well. I moved on and am open to a film from anywhere now. But I have come across plenty of film fans (non-Indians) who would go watch a French or Spanish film easily but not dare to sample a Bengali film or even something from Taiwan. I remember when I had helped book <I>Dosar</I> for CIFF, there were some people who didn't even consider it. Yet if the exact same film had the name Almodovar on it, they would have blindly headed into the theatre.<BR/><BR/>I have to say that I think watching other foreign films will enable you to appreciate the Indian traditions much better. So I think you will find that when you start looking at Indian cinema, you will view it in a different light.Sachinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13227932224402555942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post-13114898629398009382008-09-04T13:22:00.000-07:002008-09-04T13:22:00.000-07:00Well, just the thought of Delhi reminds me of hypo...Well, just the thought of Delhi reminds me of hypocrisy. I mean each day I go to college I see it, on the road, everywhere. But that’s another topic; however, the park incident is really amusing. I have seen Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander a number of times, but not recently, if I dig deep, images of Pooja Bedi, the cycle race still lingers in my memory. <BR/><BR/> It was a sweet film for me, another movie in that bracket I like is Kabhi Ha Kabhi Na, and I guess it has more to do with nostalgia, because even today when I look at them I still look at it with innocence (naïve), sadly such films don’t seem to exist anymore. I mean the recent Jaane Tu Jaane Na, I wrote about the film here din’t quite resonate to the youth they reflect in the film. <BR/><BR/>It’s quite true regarding mainstream film criticism. Most publication want straight on synopsis with stars, and glorify such people, and give them more workload- lucky them. But seasoned criticism from an Indian is harder to find each day. Beside you’re spot on regarding the mindset of people from the Industry. For example, the promos, interviews and sneak-peeks on the forthcoming Hijack film have more to do with the stunts by Alan Amin than about harnessing and documenting a sensitive topic. <BR/><BR/>The dekha-dekhi problem is really hitting the cinephile community, if there is something of that sorts in India. A testimony of the fact can be seen in Palika market in Delhi, where I bump into tons of film enthusiast and try interacting with them- usually to learn and know, but most either ignore the call or fumble away into oblivion. Interesting, a number of this film enthusiast stuff in porn into the criterion films- and each time I see that, it reminds me of Ceylan in Uzak and how he slyly he saw his porn in between Tarkvosky.:)<BR/><BR/>I do read Girish’s blog religiously but usually don’t have much to say, so stay away from forming opinion, but learning and observing. I think, earlier as a cinphile, all we, rather I did was watch foreign film and stuff it like crazy. But a quote by Tarkvosky made me go back to India when he said no one can understand Pushkin better than a Russian. So, obviously, until I don’t know my own tradition what’s the use of speaking about Godard and others. The realities of living in India just struck- power gone, lights out, and humidity in, but I guess that’s the beauty of learning the hard way.niteshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03667299083541761990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post-1841190920716498752008-09-03T20:35:00.000-07:002008-09-03T20:35:00.000-07:00hmm..I ended my last comment abruptly there. Basic...hmm..I ended my last comment abruptly there. Basically I meant to say that cinema is subjective to some extent, different people like diff works based on their own interests. Even though one can try to watch as many diff kinds of film genres or styles, there are some that appeal to diff people more. But to pretend to like something just because it is the it thing..well..maybe those guys are there for the wrong reasons.<BR/><BR/>There was this guy in a Delhi park. I actually knew him through a friend but a few of enjoyed his antics everyday. He used to jog only when a girl walked by. As soon as the girl went by, he stopped running. Jogging is something one does for oneself, not to impress someone else. But hey, this is what he believed.<BR/><BR/>Have you seen the film <I>Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander</I>? I love that movie. That movie came out in 1992 when motorycles were the cool thing in Delhi schools. So that movie in a way captured the essence of the difference between your everday person vs the rich or even the rich wannabee.<BR/><BR/>Ok..now I have said a lot :)Sachinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13227932224402555942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post-49597956775046958162008-09-03T20:24:00.000-07:002008-09-03T20:24:00.000-07:00Thanks for your comments Nitesh. I enjoyed reading...Thanks for your comments Nitesh. I enjoyed reading them and do not consider them as a rant. In fact, one of the articles I had written for NFDC was a massive rant. Basically, I had slammed the then current crop of young Bollywood film-makers (the article was written in 2002) and accused them of spending more money shooting a video for a song and adding un-necessary stunts rather than working on the script. For example, the promos featured the actor talking about how theirs is the first Bollywood film to feature an actor bungee jumping, etc. None of that added anything to the film but got them more publicity. Essentially rehashing the same story in a foreign location with new stunts. And even now things have not changed. I have not seen <I>Bachna ae Haseeno</I> but I heard the film makers talk about how they shot a scene on top of a glacier. Oh man. If they show such interest about a film's story, it would be nice. But no, all effort goes on the song, as that draws people in.<BR/><BR/>I do get tired of this classes vs masses argument regarding mainstream films. Sure some people will only go for a certain kind of film but is it necessary that every film be generic for everyone's entire family to attend? From what I have seen of the cinema in the 70's and 80's, while there were some bad commercial films, a parallel art cinema thrived and even the popular Amitabh films had something working for them. But since the mid 90's, the directors have tried to dumb their audience down and these annoying soap-operas (saas-bahu stuff) on tv have made things even worse.<BR/><BR/>Yes I do believe there is hope. I have talked to some friends who live in Delhi and they ache to see good hindi films. Amazingly, I sometimes have to tell them of a <I>Johnny Gaddar</I> as it does not last in a local cinema hall too long or not that many shows are booked. Even here in Canada, only a few cinemas actually dare show real cinema. Most multiplexes are packed with junk Hollywood, but atleast Hollywood makes some decent stuff.<BR/><BR/>Regarding critics in mainstream Indian media, I have heard from some friends in Bombay that they were asked to stop writing film reviews for some newspapers a few years ago because the papers didn't want a film analysis but opted for more masala stories. So I think the lack of critics out there might also be because of what people in print consider the audience really wanting -- star news. I have a feeling it is these same like minded people wanting to add the same masala to every film.<BR/><BR/>Now it is bad to hear how even in the cinephile world, there are people who pretend to know it all. I call this the "dekha-dekhi" problem which does effect a lot of things in the middle class Indian life. I remember when cell phones first came out in India, you heard stories about people talking on remote controls to impress women. I actually have seen this with my eyes but in my case, the guy was talking loudly while there were no women around. Just a few of us guys and some dogs around a dried up fountain. yet, he wanted to look important. But in terms of cinema, it is subjective in some ways.<BR/><BR/>Well, I think I have said quite a bit as well. I should really be exchanging this in an email :)<BR/><BR/>I have added your blog to my list and will be dropping in from now on. I think you had commented on Girish's blog once before but back then I never ventured to your blog.<BR/><BR/>happy film watching :)Sachinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13227932224402555942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post-7053446484078865832008-09-03T13:35:00.000-07:002008-09-03T13:35:00.000-07:00Interesting read Sachin, Chidananda Das Gupta too ...Interesting read Sachin, Chidananda Das Gupta too has a chapter in his book, Seeing is Believing on film songs, it talks in details regarding the usage of song in Indian Cinema, more of, the departure of the film song from being close to the narrative of the film (like it added a layer to the characters feeling) to completely existing in an alternative world (when people took a break when the song came). These days Hindi film songs have lost its midas touch- the lyrics, the inclusion of the song within the narrative structure. A number of films have moved into the no-song-category but that is very few in between countless junks. <BR/><BR/>I do agree with you regarding the scope of criticism even for mainstream cinema. No matter how much people in Bollywood think they don't need one- since critics are not meant to criticize commercial films according to them. The film industry is not largely to blame for this, because even in the press there is such a dearth for good film critics (not trade analyst, television host, and gossip writers) that the whole vocabulary of talking about films is lost. There is absolutely no mainstream publication in India which seriously talks about cinema, but I think there is a serious scope of people willing to read about it. Even if, the number is not huge, the NFDC publication is bound to close down; after all, that is also the state and fate of this funding agency. But, I think slowly a new breed of cinephile are building here, hoping that new life could be injected in the mainstream press about cinema, but to tell you the truth, lot of us lose the path and turn pseudo-intellectuals or sheer hypocrites. Like recently, a friend went to FTII and meet number of young film students, they had their theories and practices, but just to test them, he simply asked fake random film names, and lo, they responded with their pseudo replies- some had seen the great film, some knew about its actors, others the history- He walked out in disgust, after revealing the truth. For the next two days, he never meet them again in the campus. I have never understood why there is this art of faking about cinema in this so-called-intelligentsia group. Even people in the industry have age old notion about things. A friend of mine who would soon be directing a film called me with exuberance, “Man, this new Jimmy-Jib has come, and you can shoot from helicopter”, well, I said him, what is the use of new equipment, cinemascope, DI, new avid or crap when what you will shoot will be similar like any, if not all, brackets of movies in their mise-en-scene. <BR/><BR/>Last year there were few films such as Mithya, Manorma Six Feet Under even Jhonny Gadar which showed a lot of promise. But these films hardly find an audience that most of the time producers are not ready to back such projects again, or the director takes a different route. Rajat Kappor and company have been lucky enough to sustain and create a niche which I think is difficult to do in India. Though things are never easy even for them, Rajat Kappoor’s effort to raise funds for his mentor, Kumar Shahaini is yet to materialize. This year at Osian Film Festival the Indian Film Category had number of film packaged as an art film- by leading Production Houses under their new found banners, yet most of them were really bad. Interestingly, it was the master Girish Kasarvalli’s latest offering which saved the day. <BR/><BR/>As for Ramu…well, but, fuck, damn, shit…Where is his mind?<BR/><BR/>Well, the rant got too long; well I enjoy reading your blog. <BR/><BR/>Cheers.niteshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03667299083541761990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post-7298455083128724752008-09-02T09:35:00.000-07:002008-09-02T09:35:00.000-07:00Thanks for your comments Nitesh.I think Ram Gopal ...Thanks for your comments Nitesh.<BR/><BR/>I think Ram Gopal Varma needs to break away from the usual gangster and even horror<BR/>films to make something new. I did not like <I>Sarkar Raj 2</I> which I thought<BR/>had a wafer thin story backed by new camera angles. Although some of those camera<BR/>angles he tried in <I>Aag</I>. <I>Contract</I> was an unwatchable film, even though<BR/>the story borrowed the idea from <I>Drohkaal</I>, which was a much better film. I was not going to even bother with <I>Phoonk</I> but the media was talking about his comeback with <I>Sarkar Raj 2</I>.<BR/><BR/>A few years ago, I had written some criticism on the poor state of Bollywood films yet I find things in a much worse situation. Even the film magazine I wrote some stuff for (NFDC's <I>Cinema in India</I>) stopped publication because of lack of subscribers. I was told that most people are not interested in such film criticism but are interested in mainstream stuff. Yet there is scope for critical analysis in mainstream films as well. Last year, I was lucky that the Hindustan Times published <A HREF="http://bp3.blogger.com/_ZOQLtB_hxbo/RrzJiHWxCPI/AAAAAAAAAAM/10ELlCsLXEc/s1600-h/SachinGandhi.jpg" REL="nofollow">an article of mine</A>. I was told that if I wanted to write more critical analysis, it would be welcomed. Although I have not written anything more since then, but I did find it a bit positive that something other than film star interviews & filmi gossip were being published by the mainstream papers.<BR/><BR/>I very much liked <I>Mithya</I> this year and I believe there is an interesting film niche group being developed by Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey & Vinay Pathak within the confines of Bollywood. Will more such groups be formed? I hope so and there are a few signs.<BR/><BR/>I had not heard of that Chidananda Das Gupta and I will try to track that book down. Thanks for that.Sachinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13227932224402555942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6942068.post-27417920362876464352008-09-02T09:04:00.000-07:002008-09-02T09:04:00.000-07:00It's sad to see that Ram Gopal Verma too has lost ...It's sad to see that Ram Gopal Verma too has lost his ability to sincerely mould the cinematic medium and offer coherent narrative driven films. Even his recent offering Phoonk is a letdown, it managed to earn money due to the hype surrounding the film and the dearth of horror films in the genre- But the mainstream press already proclaim this venture as his comeback. Sadly, even when the number of film produced keep increasing, and the money being pumped in the industry yet every week we are feed with rehased junks or media hyped emperors in new clothes. I still fail to understand that 80% of films produced here in India are flops yet most producers sigh away from putting money in good projects. <BR/><BR/>Beside you're completely right on about the sad state of film criticism in India. There is absolutely nothing in the name of criticism. Mainstream critics like Nikhat Kazmi, Gautam Bhaskaran and other have even gone to the extent of plagiarizing. People, like Taran Adarsh are better as Trade Analyst than to be called anything close to be a critic.<BR/><BR/>It's a pretty sorry state of affairs...But as I read through the pages Chidananda Das Gupta book on film criticism, I realize there is still time and space for young cinephile like us to mold things into a different direction. The outlook is bleak, but definitely not impossible.niteshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03667299083541761990noreply@blogger.com