Brew november

Nov 2014 40

SWARA BHASKAR The actress of substance REMEMBERING THE DRAGON A tribute to Bruce Lee MAKING AND SURVIVING YOUR FIRST FILM Sonam Nair, Director of Gippi

Sameer

Bharat Ram

Editor’s Note Hi all, This issue has quite a number of interesting stories to it- with the talented Swara Bhaskar looking good on the cover, along with some other great stories on cinema, art and music. What’s more, for this month’s dose we have a serious article- a very nicely written one on how aspiring filmmakers have to set about with their debut film. Have a good read!

Keep Brewing.

Until next time, Sameer Bharat Ram

EDITOR

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CONTRIBUTORS AND ADVISORY BOARD Sethumadhavan . N Sethumadhavan.N holds an MBA from XLRIJamshedpur and has a background in the FMCG & Retail sectors.It was while leading the editorial team at PassionForCinema. com ( a popular movie portal that’s now defunct ) that Sethu realized that his true passion was Cinema and everything connected to it, including the business side of it.Currently based in Mumbai,Sethu works in the education sector and also runs www.madaboutmoviez.com, a portal dedicated to Indie/Small films,Regional Cinema and World Cinema. Sethu has also been associated with filmmaking workshops and film festivals.

Venket Ram Venket Ram is a leading Indian celebrity & fashion photographer, who has shot principal photography stills for several notable films as well as portfolios. He quit his engineering studies to work with cinematographers for a while, then joined a course in Visual Communication at Loyola College. After that, he worked with photographer Sharad Haksar and in 1993, started his own studio. He recently released the first two editions of his annual calendars in 2011 and 2012 with an overwhelming response.

Kavita Baliga The young American Soprano, Kavita Baliga has sung in concerts around the U.S., Switzerland, Italy and India with repertoire ranging from Opera and Oratorio, Musical Theatre to Indian film. In 2008, Ms. Baliga joined A.R Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory as a faculty member and founded the KMMC Chamber Choir. She is presently developing performance programmes in India.

Mallika Sarabhai Educated as an economist and a business manager, Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s best known Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers. She has taken her work and her company Darpana to not only over 90 countries around the world, but also to the farthest parts of India.

Ashok Verghese Is one of the youngest education entrepreneurs who is making a great difference in this field in the country. He is the Director of the Hindustan group of Institutions, again one of the pioneering educational groups in the country. He supports the cause of promoting young talent in art and music.

Neeru Nanda A graduate from Delhi University.

Passionate about writing, she freelanced as a feature writer for ten years before switching to publishing. Author of a collection of short stories titled “IF” (Rupa & Co), Neeru is now working on two novels and a series of books for children.

Veejay Sai An award-winning writer, editor and a culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art, and loves traveling, researching literary and cultural history. He is an editorial consultant with over 40 brands and designers in and outside India and is on the jury for several prestigious awards in the arts across the country.

Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini Internationally acclaimed, award winning Violin Maestros Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini have been widely applauded as the ‘Queens Of Violin’ and have enthralled audiences across the globe. They have been selected as Cultural Ambassadors and dignitaries to the US and UK respectively.

They have published books and written numerous articles relating to Music and religion..

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COntent

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FEATURES

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MAKING AND SURVIVING YOUR FIRST FILM

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APPLICATION. SUBMISSION AND SELECTION AT FILM FESTIVALS ACROSS THE WORLD

-Meenakshi Shedde

THE FORGOTTEN PAVLOVA OF PUNJAB

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INTERVIEW

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SWARA BHASKAR, THE ACTRESS OF SUBSTANCE

CHAURANGA WAS WORTH THE FIVE LONG YEARS OF MY LIFE -Bikas Ranjan Mishra

REVIEW 16th MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL DIARY

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REMEMBERING THE DRAGON -A tribute to Bruce Lee

TAYLOR SWIFT MAKES HISTORY WITH HER ALBUM 1989

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CINEMA

MAKING (AND BY THAT I MEAN SURVIVING) YOUR FIRST FILM SONAM NAIR, DIRECTOR OF GIPPI

There are things people tell you, and things people just let you find out on your own. When I decided that I would like to direct films for a living, I was 13 and had no idea what a director actually does. Now, after having directed a film, I feel like I know only about a 10 percent of what it means to be a director. I guess it’s better than zero! So, I thought, maybe I should do something no one did for me- write about what you might think making a film is like versus what actually happens.

THE IDEA If you start off thinking you’ll make a film that’ll bring Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan together finally, that’s set in New York with one song in Paris and one in Switzerland, with Kareena, Katrina and Deepika and an item number by Priyanka, chances are your film is not going to get made. You need to start small. You haven’t made a film before, so it’ll be easier for a producer to trust you with 5 crores instead of 50.

Also, don’t write a script that you think will be a hit and therefore get producers interested. Write what you are most passionate about, because you only get to do that in your first film. After that, you’ll get polluted with the ‘business’ of movies and stop thinking only from the heart. Write from your life, your experiences and your world- not a script that anyone could have written. One of the reasons I got to direct my film was because it was so personal that it was obvious that I should be the one to make it.

AFTER THE FIRST DRAFT Don’t think that once you’ve typed the words ‘The End”, the script is ready for the world to see. It’s not. If you want to make a film, chances are you have been working in films for a few years and have a few friends in the industry now. So give out the script to a select few of these- your fellow ADs, maybe an editor you got friendly with during the post-production

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of your earlier film, maybe a dialogue writer you found interesting. Just make sure you have registered your script and mention the fact that you have before giving it out. Take their advice, write a second draft, and then give that out to more people. Be very careful about people’s responses. If they’re being generic and polite, they might not have liked it. By the time you’ve heard feedback from about 10 people, you’ll have a pretty good idea of whether the script is working or not. If you think it’s working, give it out to someone you respect. The director of your last film, an actor you got friendly with, another scriptwritersomeone in the power to get your film to the next level.

If they love it, you know you’ve got something there.

MEETING PRODUCERS I was extremely lucky that the first producer I went to said yes to my film, but that might not always happen.

It helps if you have someone backing your script- an actor, another director, someone close to the producer or someone whose opinion is important. If you don’t have that, then your script will first go to the script-reader, and that’s a very long and unreliable process. So make sure you get someone on your side before you go to producers.

Don’t go to several people at once. The industry is small and you don’t want people talking about your double-dealings.

Go one by one, starting with whomever you think you have the best chances with. It’s always helpful if you’ve been working for the same production house for a few years

instead of hopping around. But often, people work with one house and get produced outside it- so there’s no one formula. If a producer says he likes your script but wants more time to think about it, give it a couple of months and then ask if you can show it to other producers. You don’t want to get stuck for a year and then get rejected.

Always keep your options open.

YOU’RE ON! If you get your project green lit, congratulations! You might want to celebrate and enjoy it, but you’ll probably enter a state of panic. The reality that you’re actually going to make a film is terrifying. You’ll think of everything that can go wrong. You’ll start worrying about your health. You’ll start drinking green tea and driving more cautiously. Let this phase pass.

Don’t make any rash decisions about the film till about 2 weeks after it’s been picked up. Then go all out! Start putting your team together- your team can make or break the film. Meet as many people as you can. Don’t think some people have too much experience and some too little. Meet

whoever you think is talented, pitch to whomever you would love to work with. You might hear a few no’s but so what? You got a Producer to say yes, and others will follow soon. Don’t leave room for regret. I always thought my film was too small for a lot of people in the industry whose work I admired, and now I wish I had at least met them.

Even if they can’t do your film, each meeting will make you a little wiser, and you might get great tips from the people you admire. One important thing is to be humble. You might be the director, but these people have a lot of good work behind them- so learn from them. Finally, take people who respect you and won’t overstep your position. I have heard of many cinematographers or actors or editors who try and take over the film, thinking the director doesn’t know anything. Don’t let your film slip away from your fingers.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Now that you’ve got yourself a Cast, a Cinematographer, a Production Designer, a Costume Designer, a Music Director, and a First AD, it’s time to bring everyone together and

share your vision with them. Don’t doubt yourself at this point. You have written the script, and you know more about it than any of them do. But this time is more crucial than people might think- because it’s very important that everyone is on the same page. You might think they get it, and they might think they get it- but everyone might be making their own movie in their heads.

So extra-simplify! Don’t talk about things, instead show them. Make a giant folder of references. Put in everything you can think of- the color of the fabric you want in this scene, the size of the kettle you want in that scene, the way you want sunlight to fall on the actor’s face in the other scene. Nothing is too small to put in here. Put videos, songs, pictures, websites, artwork, whatever you can find. I used a lot of my pictures from childhood to give everyone a sense of the emotional world of the film. Be open to suggestions at this point, its only talk so just let it flow. Let others bring their own references and see if they’re close to yours or not. Meet your HOD’s (Heads of Departments) as often as you can. Read every scene with your actors, once, twice, three times. If you have time, make storyboards. One

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thing though, do not let anything you decide at this point become too rigid in your head. Everything will change when you actually shoot things but this prep will not go to waste, believe me.

SHOOTING

minutes off. Remember, you have all the answers, and there is no right or wrong. Plus, you have a team to help you out. And don’t be afraid to admit that you’re not sure about something or can’t figure it out. It’s better to ask for help than make the wrong choices.

Easily the most exhilarating part of the whole process, and also the most harrowing. You might not sleep before the first day of your shoot, but try not to over-think it and put too much pressure on yourself. Start with the easiest shots first. I did a whole day of inserts when I began. Hand on clock, Object on table, Sign on door.

It really helped me get into the zone.

Everyone is finding their groove so don’t expect perfection straightaway.

Just concentrate on keeping a good environment on set, because once that is in place, work will happen smoothly from here on. Don’t let fear, confusion or frustration spoil your mental peace.

If you feel any of these brewing, take 5

The most important thing to remember while shooting is that nothing will go as planned. Start with that, and you won’t be thrown off by the million problems that arise. Your job is to make the best of any situation and keep the show going. Don’t compromise on everything the first time a problem crops up, but also keep in mind that you’ll have to let go of a few things to get the rest done. It’s good to have a backup plan, especially on problematic days with lots of background actors or heavy equipment. However, when you do solve the problem and get the shot, it’s the best feeling in the world! So work towards that.

Not to be an aunty about it, but try and

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recuperate after the shoot on your own. Don’t hang out too much with the cast and crew. You need to brew over the day’s shoot and mentally prepare yourself for the next day. No one else is under the same pressure you are, so even if you hear everyone talking and laughing down the hallway, resist the temptation and go to sleep! You need to rest your mind, and cut off for while.

One tip- you should review your work during shoot. Keep an editor on set to put together rough edits of the scenes you shoot- it’ll help you a lot in the long run. Even if you see the scenes every 3-4 days, just watching the scenes will help you see the drawbacks while you can still fix them. If your gut says that a scene isn’t working, try and reshoot it while you’re still at that location. You might not get to go back once the film is in post-production.

And lastly, don’t forget to enjoy yourself! Laugh when you’re shooting a funny scene, cry when you’re

shooting an emotional one, and dance your butt off when you’re shooting songs. If you don’t feel it, how will you make others feel it? You won’t get to shoot another film for a long time, so make the best of these days!

WHAT HAVE I DONE? Once the shoot is over, the most nerve-wracking phase begins. When you look at what you’ve shot, you’ll invariably think that everything looks horrible and nothing is working and that you’ve ruined your film. Relax.

Cut off for a while. Let your editor go through the footage, assemble some scenes, try and get all the beats rightwhile you take a mini-vacation. Then come back with fresh eyes and look at the footage. Focus on getting each scene working first, and then worry about the length or scope of the entire film. Once you’re more or less satisfied

with each scene, then put them all together and watch the whole film.

This will make new problems stand out, but most things can be fixed on the edit. Don’t look at scenes bare. Put reference background music wherever you feel the need to. Don’t hold back with the music- there’s no copyright issue yet so go all out! Later, you can help recreate the same feeling with your Background Music Director.

Once you have a satisfactory first cut, ask a few people close to you to give some feedback on it. Don’t invite the whole world yet, the film is at a vulnerable stage and you don’t want people to form rigid opinions about it yet. If your friends have more or less the same few pointers, work on that, and then call them again. If they seem satisfied, start calling in more people. I called in hoards of people of different ages, professions and walks

of life. Sometimes they’ll give you bizarre feedback, but you’ll find out the fundamental problems if they keep coming up in every screening. And every now and then, someone gives a brilliant suggestion that can swing things around! Don’t let criticism get you down, it’s better to hear things now and fix them than hear them later once the film has released.

DEADLINES AND MADNESS Once your edit is locked, a period of complete chaos begins. Even if you do everything on time, you cannot account for the 100 new things that crop up, and of course everything has to be done now and done PERFECTLY. There is background music, DI, VFX, Sound mixing, Dubbing, Subtitling, Censoring, Publicity, Trailers (theatrical trailer, music promos, dialogue promos, 30 seconder, 20 seconder, 15 seconder),

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death! You’ll have to take a hundred calls a day from things like the order of the opening credits, to which dialogue promo should go out first, to what your actors should wear in a last minute publicity shoot, to what the font of the ‘intermission’ should be like. It’s exhausting and you don’t have time to dilly-dally, so you just have to trust your instincts and keep ticking off the boxes. There’s no point in trying to be healthy, or get enough sleep during this time. You’ll probably skip lunch every single day, smoke a pack of cigarettes even if you’re not a smoker, and have 2-3 tearful emotional breakdowns.

Just remember to keep going, no matter what. The end is near and your very own film will release all over the country! That’ll make it all worth it.

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LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT! Your baby is out! You’re a mother now! (Yes, even the men!) All that buildup and hard work and emotional trauma, it has all been for this one day, right? What happened? What was the opening? What are the reviews? What was the overseas response? What does my producer think? What do I do now?

Calm down. Don’t sit and think that your world is going to change the day your film releases. It’s not. If you’re very lucky, you’ll go to the theater and see a house-full board and hear people laughing and clapping inside. But don’t make this day about that. Make it about taking your friends and family to watch the film. Your friends will whistle when your name comes on screen and your parents will cry every 5 minutes, filled

with pride and joy. That is what will make this day special. Or go alone and buy a ticket for your own film.

It’s the best feeling in the world. Take the day to pat yourself on the back for having done what thousands of people yearn to do in this country. Go watch it with a real audience everyday.

Feel your heart swell up with pride every time they laugh or cry. That’s what making films is about, right?

If your film does well, you’ll get calls and texts from people in the industry.

You’ll get invited to a few parties.

You’ll get nominated for some awards.

If it doesn’t do well, you’ll get a lot of people saying ‘Oh you made that film?

Sorry, I haven’t seen it yet but I’ve been meaning to catch it.’ You’re not an actor, so no one will recognize you

AFTERMATH on the street and tell you whether they liked your film or not. Whatever response you get from the general public will be limited to Twitter and Facebook and Youtube comments.

After a couple of months, people will move on to the next crop of films and yours will be one of the many films that came out that year. Either way, your life won’t change drastically. You might move to a bigger apartment or buy a new car, but the money will run out soon, so you’ll have to be careful with it.

The few weeks after the film’s release are the worst. Your hectic life suddenly feels empty. You stop getting hundreds of calls a day about deadlines and requirements, and the phone occasionally beeps when someone sends you a nice message about your film. Or VM Callertunes wants you to buy a new ringtone. Take this time to take account of everything you learned from this film, what your strengths and weaknesses are, what you would like to do differently next time around, and thank the lord that your film actually made it to the theaters! Then stop thinking about it. You’ve thought about your film for a long time now, and you need to stop. Go away somewhere. Meet new people who have no connections to films. Read books. Watch entire seasons of TV shows in one day. Wash yourself off the film, so you can start thinking about the next one with a clean state of mind.

Making films is, I think, the best job in the world. I have never been as happy as I was during the making of my film. Every problem seemed small, every setback manageable, when I just sat back and thought, ‘Wow, I’m making my own film!’ But I’m not going to lie, it really takes a toll on you. You put everything you have in your first film- blood, sweat, tears and all your heart. And yet, to the rest of the world, it’s just another film. It might be a good film, a successful film, but it isn’t the most important film of their lives. Don’t let that deter you. Your first film should never be about the destination, because it will be the journey of a lifetime. And you only get to go through it once. So if you don’t put everything you’ve got into it, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.

Now, I’m going through the immense anxiety of starting my next project. Putting too much pressure on every little idea, second-guessing myself at every step and analyzing everything way too much. I yearn for the simplicity of when I did this the first time around, when just getting the film made was the most important thing.

Cherish that innocence; it gets snatched away pretty soon.

But whatever happens next, I can always put my Gippi DVD on, watch my first baby come alive and smile that I got to do this. And no one can ever take that away from me.

- Excerpt from longlivecinema.com

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CINEMA

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Her job is to recommend and make the selection committee of the film festival who usually have little idea about Indian culture, aware as to why a specific film that she has recommended is important. To be precise, why a certain film is important within the specific context of Indian cinema at the given moment. Shedde recalls the selection process regarding Rakesh Sharma’s documentary Final Solution in 2004. The documentary about the 2002 Godhra communal riots in Gujrat had a running span of 4 hours and was banned in India. She calls the documentary a daring and an extremely important film.

She also points out that with the film being banned for screening in India, the film festival circuit then became a medium of an activist mode. She recalls how the committee was deliberating on it for a very long time and her role during this process was that of an interpreter. She had to convey and impress to the committee who might not know where Godhra is, as to why selecting this film was important within the specific historical and cultural context of India. “Rakesh was getting a bit nervous. He asked shall I tell them that I will cut the film to make the running time shorter. I said no.

I did not even convey it to the committee as they might have interpreted it as a compromise on the part of the filmmaker, whereas all Rakesh wanted was for the movie to be screened.”

Ultimately, the film was selected and Shedde pointed out that Berlin has a history of being a political film festival and has an openness when it comes to strong, politically powerful films.

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Very few film festival, she said, would screen a documentary with such a charged subject matter and a long running time.

For the 2014 edition of the film festival, Shedde cites the example of Imtiaz Ali’s Highway.

This was a film where she felt she needed to take a chance.

“I saw the film when it was not completed in September. What I saw was an assembly cut. For a filmmaker to show an unfinished film, at a time when he is at his most vulnerable, showed his trust in me. I was very touched by that.” In the assembly cut that Shedde saw, what struck her immediately was the way the film connected to the status of the contemporary modern Indian woman in a very provocative way. What she also saw, was a hugely successful director, known primarily for his romantic films was taking a big risk and making a small film without the presence of established stars.

Shedde has many years of specialized experience in customizing film festival strategy specific to the films she takes up. She points out that there is no universal template when organizing a festival strategy and likens it to a complex chess game. Factors such as script, cast, the producer and the mood the filmmaker wants to evoke are important. “If you are selected at one festival”, says Shedde, “of course it will boost your chances at more festivals, but at the same time, it will also automatically mean you are not eligible at certain other festivals, so you have to constantly weigh your choices and their consequences.”

For emerging filmmakers, Shedde recommends them to get their homework done thoroughly. The filmmaker should make a shortlist of his/her top festival choices-a dream wishlist-as well as Plan B list of festivals, incase their film is not selected for the A-list festival. They should make a list of the criteria and deadlines listed on the festival websites.

This would immediately make clear to them as to which film festivals they are eligible for.

Also, they should go over the selected films of the previous edition of the film festival so that they get a sense of the festival tastes. She also points out that apart from festivals for feature films, they are also specialized film festivals emphasizing documentaries or shorts, or animation shorts, and festivals that show various durations and genres. Also, for preparation the filmmaker should make notes of special details they need to follow up and keep ready. They should prepare a deadline chart in advance and have a backup person who can follow up festival requirements, in case the filmmaker is busy either with his/her next film or travelling. She also emphasized on the importance of English sub titling, as from her experience she has seen many good Indian films getting rejected due to poor sub titling. Her advice is to hire a professional to do the sub titling work for the film, which ensures high quality and is also crucial to an appreciation of the

film. Also, all DVDs must have all the film’s details in small capitals–original title and English title, director’s name, email, language, country, duration, and crucially, MONTH AND YEAR OF PRODUCTION (as clear from the censor’s certificate—not compulsory for most festivals overseas– or the lab certificate). All this must be written on the DVD DISC itself, with a CD writer pen. If it is a work in progress, the pending work must be specified on the DVD, so the film is not misjudged. “All this might seem like silly details”, says Shedde, “but I have seen it make a big difference between films being selected or rejected, as nobody has the time to follow up under deadline pressure what should have come in the first place.”

An electronic press kit (EPK), which can be emailed, should have all the important film details given above, along with cast, crew, synopsis, high resolution stills from the film, a good photograph of the director, his/her filmography and previous festival participation and awards. If it has had good reviews, brief lines of praise and the name of the media can be highlighted.

Her advice for budding filmmakers applying to film festivals is simply this- “Make the film you really want.” She states that film designed for film festivals usually put off the festival programmers, as they as manipulative and not true to the story that is

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intended to be told view them. ” Festivals look for original story telling, that is fresh, that surprises them, that gives them an insight into Indian society, whether it is social, political or cultural. And they are looking for new narratives, new ways of telling stories.” Shedde thinks that this is the best time for Indian cinema, where all kinds of new and interesting voices who might have not gone to film school and are without the backing of a ‘big daddy’ in the industry or ‘filmy connections’ are finding their audiences.

Talking about the current scenario of Indian cinema vis a vis the film festival circuit, Shedde points out that a record 12 films (including films from directors of Indian origin) were chosen by the Berlin Film Festival from India this year. For Shedde, the fact that an A list film festival such as Berlin selected these films is a testament to the vitality of Indian cinema at present. Huge majority of these films were from debutants and three of the directors are still in their 20’s. This vitality, she says are seen through films such as Killa, Prabhat’s Pheri, Lajwanti and Blood Earth. Killa, a Marathi film by a cinematographer Avinash Arun won the prestigious Crystal Bear at the festival. Prabhat’s Pheriby two FTII students Jessica Sadana and Samarth Dixit is a documentary reflecting on memory and history through exploring the current FTII campus which was previously the grounds for the famed Prabhat’s Studio.Lajwanti a Rajasthani film by Pushpendra Singh is a love story treated in an avant garde manner. Blood Earthby Kush Badhawar, is a short film on the adivasis of Odisha. The film uses sound, music, silence and noise as a way of approaching its narrative, which Shedde found to be eloquent.

In terms of choosing film festival consulting as a career option, Shedde advises caution. Film festival consultancy could be a challenging career option especially when it comes to paying one’s bills as majority of the film festivals worldwide don’t pay for specialized advice on Indian cinema and are content with free advice from wherever it comes. This is often a genuine budget constraint, according to Shedde, but as a consequence, it often also reflects in the quality of their programming. If one has a good relationship with a film festival, then one might get an invitation to attend the festival with air fare and hospitality covered, but there might be no budget for the consultancy fee. In addition to being the India Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival and Dubai Film Festival, Shedde has also been covering South Asian Cinema (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan) for both festivals. Each year, Shedde and Dorothy Wenner (India Programmer, Berlin Film Festival) travel to 5 Indian Cities-Bombay, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Trivandrum- to meet filmmakers and to check out the latest films. Shedde stressed on the fact that these are not guaranteed jobs, but assignments that may or may not be renewed the following year. Ultimately, Shedde concludes, “my work essentially requires me to do three things. Firstly, during the selecting and recommending stage I have to decide why the film is important and significant. Secondly, the sourcing and snuffing out of these films. And lastly, when these films make it to the festival, I facilitate an interactive session with the filmmakers which I think is very crucial.”

- Excerpt from longlivecinema.com

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Among India’s first generation dancers of the 20th century, whose name registered globally, one can easily recall Uday Shankar, Ram Gopal and Shanta Rao. They belonged to the league of those who dared to not just experiment but also eventually come to define what the world was to comprehend of Indian classical dances. While history remembers them, a few other dancers eventually faded from public memory. One such name is Tara Chaudhri.

According to Ram Gopal’s autobiography, Tara hailed from a Muslim family in Punjab and came to South India in 1943. Beyond this little detail, Ram Gopal doesn’t mention her in his autobiography, written long after they split. Prior to 1943, Tara and her sister Rani took training in Kathak from Pt Pyare Lal of the lesser-known Punjab Gharana in Lahore and further trained in Manipuri.

Tara continued her training under Ustad Aashiq Hussain Khan. However an old pamphlet from 1942 announces that she ran a dance school and taught ‘Bharata Natya’, in Lahore, the cultural capital of North India before independence. The mystery remains if she learnt the dance form prior to visiting south in ’43. In which case it would make her one of the pioneers of Bharatanatyam in the north. ‘Bharata Natya’ was also a generic term used for ‘Indian dance’ in that era. In 1943, she moved to Bangalore along with her brother A R Chaudhri, himself an established scholar and a critic, and became Ram Gopal’s principal dance partner. It might have been during those years that she also frequented Kerala Kalamandalam to train in Kathakali. Govindan Kutty briefly mentions dancing with her in his short autobiography. In 1946, Ram Gopal and Tara did an extensive tour of India and Ceylon. Their fame spread so far that the famous magazine ‘Film India’ (now defunct) edited by the notorious Baburao Patel from Bombay, that only covered cinema carried and impressive feature on their tour in December 1946 issue. Later other dancers Leela Bhaskarayya and Shevanti too joined Ram Gopal’s company in Bangalore.

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For a few years Tara made Madras her home and learnt Bharatanatyam under the grand old Nattuvanar Meenakshisundaram Pillai. While in Madras, Tara ran a school and even danced in two Tamil movies. In AVM’s ‘Vedhala Ulagam’ in 1948, she danced to the choreography of Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai.

In ‘Paarijatham’ directed

by K S Gopalakrishnan in 1950 Tara was seen in the dance sequences. In both the films she shared the screen with the famous Travancore sisters Padmini and Ragini.

She continued her performance life actively, traveling and teaching. In a review written in The Straits Times on 17th July 1949, it goes “‘Tara Chaudhri is, perhaps, even greater than Russia’s Anna Pavlova. Her sense of time and rhythm is perfect and her wonderful mastery of the various styles of Indian dancing puts her in a class by herself.’ So observed the poet Vallathol”.

Tara’s earlier training in Kathakali at Kalamandalam could justify why the great poet seemed highly impressed with her.

The Indian Cultural Delegation of musicians and dancers sponsored by the Government of India who visited and performed in the erstwhile U.S.S.R., Poland, and Czechoslovakia in 1954 included Pt Ravi Shankar and Pt Kishan Maharaj among musicians and Guru Gopinath and Tara Chaudhri among dancers. In a rare footage one sees Tara getting off the flight and being welc ry’s greatest ballerinas.

The 1959 special issue of the ‘Marg’ that covered Kathak claims Tara ran a dance school in Ceylone for sometime. Veteran Kathak diva Maya Rao from Bangalore remembers Tara’s dance, “She was a wonderful dancer and a beautiful looker. She was Ram Gopal’s principal dance partner till she broke off to form her own company and this angered him endlessly. I met her in Ceylon in 1961. That was the last I remember of her. Seetaram the owner of the famous Vandyke Studios in old Bangalore was a great fan and her dance image he shot were on a permanent display in his shop.” As times changed, the studio nor Seetaram or his family exists and with that Tara’s images vanished forever. An image of Ram Gopal and Tara makes for the jacket of the now out-of-print book ‘Tandava Lakshanam’, published in 1971. Neither the publishers nor the editors credit the names of the dancers. That was the last the world heard of Tara.

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The 1959 special issue of the ‘Marg’ that covered Kathak claims Tara ran a dance school in Ceylone for sometime. Veteran Kathak diva Maya Rao from Bangalore remembers Tara’s dance, “She was a wonderful dancer and a beautiful looker. She was Ram Gopal’s principal dance partner till she broke off to form her own company and this angered him endlessly. I met her in Ceylon in 1961. That was the last I remember of her. Seetaram the owner of the famous Vandyke Studios in old Bangalore was a great fan and her dance image he shot were on a permanent display in his shop.” As times changed, the studio nor Seetaram or his family exists and with that Tara’s images vanished forever. An image of Ram Gopal and Tara makes for the jacket of the now out-of-print book ‘Tandava Lakshanam’, published in 1971. Neither the publishers nor the editors credit the names of the dancers.

That was the last the world heard of Tara.

She completely vanished from public memory in the last four decades. Her dream for a Dance University in India remains unfulfilled. Nothing is known of her migration and settling down in Pakistan. She continued teaching Images courtesy : Veejay Sai’s Private Collection

there as well. She passed away, an anonymous death, last September in Karachi where she spent the last years of her life. The news of her demise reached everyone much later.

In a life that witnessed fame, fortune, success and strife, Tara’s is a story waiting to be grabbed by the silver screen. What remains of Tara are a few scattered images and vague anecdotes among her contemporaries, based on their ageing memories.

Having worked among some of India’s greatest names in the world of arts, Tara’s legacy is lost in negligent documentation and lack of archiving. For now, she remains a shining star on the far-stretched horizons of Indian classical dance history.

-Veejay Sai

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CINEMA

POETRY IN MOTION

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You forayed into the world of cinema and have now carved a path for yourself. What chose you to pursue acting?

As a child, I was very dramatic and l loved an audience. I have also been always inclined towards storytelling. So I felt entering Cinema was a natural thing to do! While growing up I was a fan of ‘Chitrahaar’ on Doordharshan channel and wanted so desperately to see myself on it, so that is probably how the desire for acting took shape.

You are known widely more for your supporting roles than for your lead roles as of now. Do you plan on playing more lead roles in the future? If so, what type of roles would you take on?

Interestingly I have only done supporting roles in ‘Tanu weds Manu’ and ‘Raanjhana’ so far! I play a supporting role in the upcoming ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo’ as well. But my first film ‘Madholal Keep Walking’ saw me in a lead part, ‘Listen Amaya’ was a title part, and so was ‘Machhli Jal Ki Rani Hai’. My upcoming film ‘Nil Battey Sannataa’ is also a lead protagonist’s part. So looking at it, I have done more lead roles than supporting roles!

I simply chose the best roles and scripts from the offers that have come to me. I pride myself on choosing performance oriented and memorable parts and will continue to do the same.

Of all the movies you have acted in, which one do you think is your best performance till date?

‘Listen Amaya’ and ‘Raanjhana’, without a doubt. My role in the upcoming film ‘Nil Batte Sannata’ is also very close to my heart. All these three characters are very different from my real life personality and I worked very hard to make them interesting and original- I think that’s why these three immediately came to my mind when this question was put forth to me!

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What matters most to you when you decide to take up an offer- the role, the story or the credibility of the director?

All three! I take on each role and film for one of these different reasons and sometimes for all three reasons. For instance, I did Listen Amaya for the chance to work with the late Farooque Sheikh and Deepti Naval. Choosing ‘Raanjhana’ was both for the role and for director Aanand Rai. My upcoming ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo’.

I did for Actor Salman Khan, director Sooraj Barjatya and the Rajshri banner! My upcoming ‘Nil Battey Sannata’ for the absolutely incredible role as well as the script that it is! I also anchored a TV series titled ‘Samvidhaan: The making of the Indian constitution’ simply for the chance to work with the director, the great Shyam Benegal.

What are your plans for the future?

I want to do more mainstream films with strong lead roles. Being a storyteller at heart, I also want to write my own films.

If not acting, which career path would you have opted for?

Teaching, definitely! Teaching children in conflict-ridden areas is what I would have been doing.

Was it easy to create a benchmark for yourself in Cinema?

My parents, brother and friends were a huge support system for me, and they helped me and pushed me get to where I am. Also I have my cats at home, they do so well in helping me de-stress!

What would you call your dream role?

Anarkali in ‘Mughal-e-Azam’; Julia Roberts in ‘Erin Brokovich’; Geet in ‘Jab We Met’; Aishwarya’s role in ‘Kandukondain Kandukondain’, Parvathy’s role in ‘Maryaan’, Amitabh Bachchan’s role in ‘Paa’ and Rani Mukherjee’s role in ‘Black’ and ‘Bunty aur Babli’.

Which actor would you define as your role model?

Amitabh Bachchan without a doubt because of his dedication to the art and the diversity of his body of work and performance styles. I take a lot of inspiration from him.

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CINEMA

WAS WORTH THE FIVE LONG YEARS OF MY LIFE Bagging the title of ‘the best film’ at the 16th Mumbai Film Festival this year, Chauranga has proven to be worth the years of hard work put in by the director Bikas Ranjan Mishra and the cast and crew of the film. With the backdrop of the picturesque rural India, the movie is inspired by a true event where a 14-year old Dalit boy writes a love letter to a 16-year old ‘upper’ class girl who is the village strongman’s daughter. A fictional account of six days in a dark corner of India, Chauranga is a story of violence of class oppression that is still prevalent in rural parts of the country. The Director of the film Bikas Mishra opens up about the challenges of making his first film and his vision of telling a story inspired by his childhood.

Having written and directed the movie Chauranga, what was the kind of challenge you faced while directing your first film?

I was lucky in many ways to have found the right people to collaborate with. The wonderful Marten Rabarts (of Binger Film Lab, Amsterdam, the brain behind NFDC labs) mentored me on my script. Then I found Onir and Sanjay as producers.

I think the most important thing is to find the right collaborators – the right cast and the right crew. So, the biggest challenge is to find the right people. The rest then becomes easy.

The film deals with a very prevalent and sensitive social issue of class oppression that has not been much delved into. Why did you think of infusing this particular issue in a romantic tale?

The idea was to tell a story about my village where I grew up and the characters in the movie are inspired from real people I grew up with. For example, the idea of the blind

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priest in the film was taken from our family priest. I even kept the names of the people who were a part of my childhood to retain the authenticity of the story that is constructed around real people.

All I was missing was the structure around which I could expose the real character of the village. Then one day, I came across the real story about a boy being killed for writing a love letter and I found what I was looking for.

The primary story is about the characters, the people and the lives in the village. The romance, the innocence, the perversion and sexual repression are all part of the narrative.

How did you put the cast and crew together? How long did the process take?

DoP Ramanuj Dutta was the first to join the technical crew.

The idea was simple- we wanted to create something together and for that we needed to understand the spirit of the screenplay. We spent a lot of time together, watching films, talking and reading script together. Casting was a long and arduous process. It took longer especially to find

the kids for the role that turned out to be nothing less than a challenge. We started the process in early 2012 and shot the first schedule in September 2013.

The film casts actors like Sanjay Suri, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Arpita Chatterjee who are not essentially mainstream actors. How did you come about to make this choice of actors?

Bollywood was pretty much out of bounds for me and I never thought of approaching the mainstream actors.

In fact I wasn’t even sure if this film would eventually get made. There was an open call for entry and auditions were conducted for each and every

part. All the actors I chose to work with (and who chose to work with me) are wonderful performers.

My producer Sanjay Suri plays one of the important roles and it was not an intended decision. But we spent a lot of time pitching the story and getting feedback together. As we travelled to different parts of the world, we developed a bond and a strong understanding of the film. After several months of him being on board as a producer, I asked him to take up the role.

Chauranga is a rural film and the dialect is tricky. He was reluctant at first, since he has always portrayed

positive roles and Dhawal’s character is not all positive like the grey shades in all the characters in the movie. But after much persuasion, he agreed to play the role.

In a country with reservations in every sector, how tricky do you think is it to produce movies that deal with social issues like caste and class oppression in India?

As long as the film is engaging, selling a film that’s socially relevant isn’t that difficult. It’s not the issues but the story and the people in it that move people.

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How did you manage to fund the project?

We received script development fund from the International Film Festival of Goteborg. NFDC co-produced the film. My lead producers Onir and Sanjay Suri made things happen despite all odds!

In your opinion, how much of an impact and change does a film like Chauranga make for the audience?

The biggest challenge for a filmmaker is to hold attention of the audience for 90 whole minutes. I make a film only because I want my film to be watched and discussed.

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Your first film got its first public screening at the Mumbai Film Festival this year. Chauranga has already won a few awards including “Incredible India� Award for the best project of co-production market. Did you have any apprehensions about its screening at MAMI? I was really anxious before the screening. I felt all the more worried when I saw people queued up for Chauranga wondering how they would respond to the film. When people laughed where they were supposed to, I started feeling better and when people sat through the film, I felt reassured.

But when I saw more than half the audience stay back for the question answer session post screening, it made my day! I was reassured that Chauranga was worth the five long years of my life.

- Excerpt from longlivecinema.com

CINEMA

DIARY It was a very special edition that one got to see of this year’s annual Mumbai Film Festival, one of the most important film festivals in the sub-continent which is slowly making a mark for itself in the International scenario as well. In the run up to the event there was a cloud of uncertainty as the principal sponsor (Reliance Entertainment) had bowed out and the MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Images) administration had hit a roadblock. But that was when the power of social media came to light as people pledged their support for an event that was very dear to them. Soon individuals and film industry personnel poured in their contributions and voila the festival was back on its feet, emerging stronger and more confident as well. Here is a roundup of some of the important films seen over the entire duration of the festival which ran from 14-21 October, this year THE HOMESMAN A woman needs to transport three mad women across the wild west and employs a bandit for help. This is yet another of those films that hides the precise nature of its central conflict till the end to amp up the effect of the resolution, pushing it to such an extent that it comes off mostly as obtuse and boring.This film wears its feminist credentials on its sleeve, and rarely transcends them. Everything is the fault of the patriarchy, in a way that could be directly transposed from one of the more angry radical feminist blogs, and the exposition mostly proceeds as a formless set of Incidents which Make Points. This lack of nuance is boring.

This, however should not lead one to ignore the parts it does do well, like the character played by tommy Lee Jones and the unflinching portrayal of the casualness of the injustices.

QUEEN ANTIGONE This is what one comes to a film festival to watch: an

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obscure genre art film that bites off far more than it can chew and cloaks everything in unbounded amounts of symbolism and weirdness. A heady mix of incest and state-of-the-nation that expresses itself by such clear and lucid modes such as strategic framing, parallels with an ancient play based on a little-known piece of Greek mythology and wars between colours (shown both in composition and interactions between dudes in differently coloured underwear) rather than obscurantist shit like plot.

THE 50 YEAR ARGUMENT The NYRB is a nice magazine which regularly features some of the best writers around. This film makes the case that the editor, Bob Silvers, is quite the man himself.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Silvers didn’t approve of the uncritical nature of this film.Worth watching if you want to watch super-awesome writers (Susan Sontag! Gore Vidal!) wax fluent about a guy you likely know only out of the corner of your eye, and be impressed by him.

OVER YOUR DEAD BODY

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

A play about an amoral samurai and the reality of its leads start looking oddly similar. While bog-standard in terms of plot, this psychological drama is extremely effective and actually surprises and delights with its resolution; the lesson is that Takashi Miike can deliver. Not the best from Miike,but quite a good start to the fest this movie indeed is.

This 1934 Hollywood classic still managed to win hearts of the audience, going by the laughter it evoked among the audience during the screening.

It is interesting to note that even after so many years Bollywood is still heavily influenced by this film.

LIFE OF RILEY The preparations for a play and the death of a cantankerous beloved one forms the backdrop for the revelations of the cracks within a social group.

It’s adaptation of a play that feels like a filmed play… almost. Alain Resnais plays with the stage in ways exclusive to film to construct a potent human comedy, an effect only enhanced by typically British people saying typically British things in French.

SIDDHANT The film was introduced as the next offering from the producers of Shaala and Fandry. But it doesn’t deserve to be slotted in the same category.

Siddhant is an amateurish film by first time director Vivek Wagh. He has the right actors but does not know how to effectively utilise them. A teacher obsessed with Mathematics falls ill when he learns that his grandson is not the Maths genius he thought he was. The film takes so many detours that by the time it reaches its cheesy ending, you’ll be groaning in pain. Avoid at all costs.

THE LITTLE HOUSE It has taken us more than 100 Years to understand that World War 1 could have been avoided. Set during World War Two, the film looks at how government uses patriotic jingoism to further its own interest. How people behave differently and how generations judge historical incidents differently is told in a subtle way by this film. This is easily one of the best Asian films of this year.

THE ATTORNEY Yang Woo-suk’s debut movie,this went on to become a smash South Korean hit last year. A solid courtroom drama, this one plays upon a topic which has a lot of cultural and political significance in South Korea and appeals quite well.

Popular Korean actor Song Kang-ho in the lead role of the underdog attorney puts in a power packed performance, making this a good watch.

THE GOOD LIE Margaret Nagle touches upon the realistic story of Sudanese refugees in the U.S.A who are helped by an American woman to settle down and lead a respectable life for themselves in the U.S after they get luckily relocated as part of an International refugee relocation program. Reese Witherspoon as Carrie Davis is very good and so are all the actors portraying the Sudanese refugees. The film also has some really heart warming dialogues, making the film a wonderful watch.

KILLA (THE FORT) Avinash Arun, the debutant director and DOP shot into prominence when his 1st Marathi film, Killa won the Crystal Bear Award at Berlinale this year. A wonderful slice of life, coming of age film, this one stands apart thanks to its wonderful performances, well written screenplay and dialogues, lovely cinematography etc. Killa will be getting a theatrical release shortly and this is the kind of Indian film that one needs to encourage in the right spirit.

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SCHIMBARE Alex Sampayo’s Schimbare starts off as a slightly difficult watch, but settles down later to end up as a taut drama with shades of a thriller. A doctor couple who are distraught due to their daughter who needs a kidney replacement, contacts a shady gang to get hold of a donor and thus they come across a little girl. Soon all their lives go on to undergo changes that they had never been prepared for all this while.

Afghanistan who are courageous enough to be involved with theater arts and find themselves facing harsh criticism, social disapproval and even face death threats. Director Anneta Papathanasiou’s documentary is an engaging tale about women actors bravely fighting all the odds. The docu also sees some heartbreaking confessions made by women and some obnoxious statements made by males which may sound funny, but brings out all the hypocrisies out clearly.

FEVER

LESSONS IN DISSENT

French cinematographer and actor Raphael Neal’s directorial debut film, Fever talks about 2 high school students who somehow murder an unknown woman previously spotted on the street. What starts off as a youthful fun outing goes on to become a bizarre tale which leaves you dissatisfied eventually as it ends.

This documentary narrates the true story of schoolboy Joshua Wong who fights to stop introduction of National Education. While his former classmate Ma Jai fights against political oppression on streets and in the courts. Despite a strong premise, the docu has an uneven pace and captures your attention only in brief phases of its duration. Ultimately, this ends up as a watchable documentary which could have been better.

GUEROS Ramiro Ruiz’s Mexican film Gueros is a smart, witty and refreshing coming of age tale with a strong cultural and political tale of its own. A black and white film, the film has enough and more to keep us hooked and it is no wonder that the film has been doing well in the International festival circuit this year. Definitely a recommended watch.

BROKEN HILL BLUES When the director herself calls the film strange, the reviewer’s job is pretty much done. Sofia Norlin tried valiantly to “explain” the film after the screening using terms like “crotchet structure”, “song-like” and “open for interpretation”. You get the idea, or rather dont. The plot would not even fill one sentence so let’s not bother with that. The imagery of a snow clad mining town is beautifully captured. Nothing else to say.

PLAYING WITH FIRE A documentary about actresses in

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GETT: THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM This Israeli drama talks of Viviane who wants a divorce from her husband Elisha. What’s the problem? Well Elisha isn’t keen to give her a divorce and the Rabbi Court seems to be lenient towards the husband. Gett is a powerful drama centered in a courtroom and brings out the complexities of the Israeli legal system and the complexities of a strained relations of a husband and wife quite well. Easily one of the best films to be screened this year at MAMI. BUDDHA IN A TRAFFIC JAM Vikram Pandit (Arunoday Singh) a postgraduate student finds himself getting attracted to the cause of fighting for rights of tribals after hearing professor Batki speak. Slowly he finds himself getting trapped and nothing is what it appears to be. Despite a good premise and a promising start, the film suffers due to

poor handling and execution of the script. Ultimately, what one remembers after the film has ended are a couple of powerful scenes including the opening. Buddha In Traffic Jam is an average film which could have been better.

BARF (SNOW) A once affluent family has a tough time concealing their present situation when a suitor comes to proposetheir daughter. Using this simple premise, Barf brings out the dynamics of a family and captures their angst, heartbreaks, mutual love, understanding and respect for each other very well. Despite a simple premise, Barf is a powerful and engaging films like most Iranian films.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS Dietrich Bruggemann’s German film won the Silver Bear for the Best Script at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. 14 year old Maria belongs to a fundamentalist Catholic community.

Maria lives her everyday life in the modern world, yet her heart belongs to Jesus. She wants to follow the Lord, become a saint and go to heaven – just like all those holy children she’s always been told about. So Maria goes through 14 stations, just like Jesus did on his path to Golgatha, and reaches her goal in the end. The film is a tale that talks of religion and the thin line separating strict belief in faith/religion and having a practical outlook in life. This is a film that makes us think on the subject being addressed long after the screening is over.

MOMMY Xavier Dolan’s Canadian drama won the Jury Prize at Cannes this yea and is Canada’s official entry to the 87th Academy Awards (under Best Foreign Language category). Diane Després (Anne Dorval), a widowed mother is overwhelmed by the difficulty of raising her troubled, sometimes violent son Steve (Antoine Olivier Pilon) as a single parent. Després then begins to receive assistance and support from her new neighbour Kyla (Suzanne Clément). Thus begins a strange yet interesting chapter in the lives of these 3 people. By far the best film seen this year so far at MAMI, the film is an absolute delight in every sense. From playing innovatively with the aspect ratio to the wonderful BGM, to the rock solid performances, the film is a winner all the way. This is a must watch.

2 DAYS,1 NIGHT (DEUX JOURS, UNE NUIT) Sandra (Marion Coutilard), a young Belgian mother, discovers that her workmates have opted for a significant pay bonus, in exchange for her dismissal. She has only one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that she can keep her job. What happens over the course of these 2 days and 1 night is what the film is all about. This is a film which is very taut and engaging in its own way. Marion Coutilard doesn’t disappoint and makes the film a pleasure to watch. This is a film which holds universal appeal.

LABOUR OF LOVE (ASHA JAOAR MAJHE)

COMING HOME (GUI LAI)

Debutant filmmaker Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s film has already been doing well in the International festival circuit and hence there was quite a bit of curiosity regarding the same. The film basically talks about a day in the lives of a married couple, both of whom have jobs in different shifts, thus limiting their daily personal interaction considerably. This dialogue less film is the type which can bring out extreme reactions from the audience.

The film does boast of good cinematography and is an interesting experiment of sorts, just that the influence of European cinema looks a little too obvious. This is the quintessential film meant for festivals and festivals alone.

Veteran Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s drama is based on a novel and talks about 3 principal characters-Lu Yanshi, his wife Feng Wanyu and their daughter Dandan. The film clearly has a political background and yet steers clear of being a political propaganda film. The film takes some time to warm up to but later on the beautiful frames and the effective performances hook us quite well. This is a film which in a way reminds us of Malayalam Cinema of the 80’s and early 90’s.

ONE ON ONE (II-DAE-IL) Veteran South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk’s latest film is a thriller with multiple characters vying for our attention. The film begins with the murder of a teenage girl and later on all the people suspected to be involved with the operation get tracked down one by one by a secret group which is determined to find out the truth. The film takes some time to grip you,but it engulfs you soon.

As seen in many Kim Ki-duk films, there’s quite a bit of philosophy thrown in too eventually for good measure.

A MOST WANTED MAN Based on John Le Carre’s novel of the same name,this is an espionage-thriller made by Dutch filmmaker Anton Corbijn. Featuring late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams etc, this is a film based in Hamburg, Germany and talks about an attempt to nab a Muslim philanthropist rumoured to be bankrolling Islamic militant groups in the garb of his NGO activist profile.

Considering the names involved, this is a way too simple tale and makes you wonder what’s so special about the film. Devoid of any major thrills, this is a disappointing film.

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NYMPHOMANIAC (VOLUME 1)

THE AMBASSADOR TO BERN

Popular director Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac has seen a regular cut of 4 hours split across 2 parts. Similar to other major festivals, MFF is screening the 5 &1/2 hour director’s cut split across 2 parts. A daringly bold experimental film (like many other works of Lars Von Trier), this one talks of a nymphomanic, Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who is discovered beaten up in an alley way by an old, charming bachelor Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård). He brings her home to his flat where he tends to her wounds while asking her about her life. He listens intently as Joe, over the next eight chapters, recounts the lustful story of her highly erotic life from infancy to the age of 50. In the process Seligman, a widely read man, connects and analyzes Joe’s stories with what he has read about. Though the bold theme and the associated sex scenes dominate, the film is quite interesting in its own characteristic way.

On August 16, 1958 two Hungarian immigrants broke into the Hungarian embassy in Bern and took the ambassador hostage. As the Swiss police surround the building and a group of Hungarian immigrants turn up on the street to protest, Tension mounts behind the closed doors of the embassy. Based on a true story, The Ambassador To Bern is a taut and engaging political thriller, that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout its entire duration. The Ambassador To Bern is one of the best films we watched this year at MAMI and is a highly recommended movie.

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI Michael O Hara (Orson Welles) falls in love with Mrs. Bannister (Rita Hayworth) the alluring, mystical wife of a wealthy lawyer after saving her from a group of thugs. Very soon he finds himself getting entangled in a dangerous murder plot with severe possible consequences. Directed by iconic film maker Orson Welles, The Lady from Shanghai is a stylish and well-made noir thriller. The film has some great dialogues, stunning visuals and keeps you hooked to the proceedings right upto its stylishly shot and much talked about climax. It was a delight to watch this film on the big screen at this year’s Mumbai Film Festival.

ON THE WATERFRONT The story revolves around Terry Malloy ( Marlon Brando) an ex boxing champ who stands up against the corrupt bosses of his union. Directed by Elia Kazan , this classic film is highly powerful and engaging even after 6 decades down the line. Watching a restored classic on the big screen is always a pleasurable experience and so was watching On The waterfront at this year’s Mumbai film Festival.

SUNRISE (ARUNODAY) Arunoday tells the story of a cop named Joshi ( Adil Hussain) who desperately tries to track down his kidnapped daughter. The film is shot mostly in a dark light and rains begin an integral part of almost every scene. The dark lighting is used as a metaphor to describe the crisis going on in the protagonists life. Arunoday is a slow leisurely paced dark film, which may or may not appeal to you in its entirety. But the film is definitely worth a watch.

MOSCOW DOES NOT BELIEVE IN TEARS I guess this is the first Russian film I have ever watched. The film traces the lives of three female friends over a period of 40 years in Moscow. At 2 hours 30 Minutes, the film could have been a drag, but it is not. The production values I guess given the budget are satisfactory. I was more interested to see Russian society at the height of its communist propaganda and guess what; the problem faced by females all over the world remains the same. The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign language film in 1980. The film also boasts of some wonderful acting, even though I could not recognise the actors by the name. Director Vladimir Menshov manages to grip your attention for entire span of the film, thankfully without going overboard with melodrama.

THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG This was my first musical, I was glad to watch the restored version of this film at fest. It is such a pleasure to see one of the most beautiful women in the world of Catherine Deneuve.

Initially I thought it would be an ordinary love story, but I was proven wrong. The film talks about how people make decisions in life which are more to do with practicality and survival. One of the best scenes of the film is the climax.

PRIDE India remains one of those countries which treats homosexuality as a crime, probably the influence of Victorian morality. I was interested to know how gay rights moment started in UK and how it succeeds. Set in early 1980’s in the U.K. the film talks about a group of youngsters who start a gay & lesbian group who go on to support a mining community out on strike for their rights. In the process there’s friendship, humanity, values, pride and joy which are all looked at from a new angle. Pride is one of those movies which makes you laugh, think and cry at the same time. It is easily one of the best films at MAMI this year.

GIRLHOOD A tender and loving film about the transition to adulthood

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of a teenage black girl who would like to go to school and get a good job but is denied the opportunity. While the emotional transition to adulthood is well-represented in fiction, the actual logistical pains of the transition are not. This film is distinguished mostly by the fact that the heroine doesn’t really change that much during its course, even while she tries on different identities to see what fits. This in itself is enough to make it interesting and worth watching. As a bonus, it’s also extremely well-observed and engrossing.

GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE This is Godard being full-on Godard.

Esoteric and symbolic to the extreme and throwing out so much information that it’s hard to see how anyone without a PhD in criticism is supposed to follow it, it would be intellectually dishonest to try to judge its effectiveness.

This film seeks to speak about the logistical necessity of language in communication and human connection. Which makes a dog the obvious recurring motif. It’s definitely an experience. Shot after shot of motif and symbol followed by a seemingly unrelated one and often even two different shots on two different eyes, it’s impossible to really understand but may well stay with you and even inspire some interesting thoughts.

A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT A black-and-white Iranian vampire western love story, it’s definitely interesting as hell and a rather enjoyable watch. It’s soundtrack, especially, is marvellous. However, its success as a film is far less clear. The direction and tone are extremely uneven, there seems to be a fundamental gap between the bleak western tone it wants to have and the tone it actually has, and the decision to create momentum using dramatic irony as much as tension often falls flat.

CHAURANGA While obviously made by someone

with a great appreciation of the visual aspects of movies, it’s also obviously made by someone without much appreciation of the flow of story. But while that would make it merely bad, it is actually memetic poison, since its surface qualities may make you actually take its representation of village life and oppression seriously and that would be bad for your mind.

AMAR, AKBAR AND TONY Directed by Atul Malhotra, AA&T is like a Bollywood film made the way a Bollywood film ought to be made. Funny at one instance and sentimental at another, it goes from emotion to emotion, never bogging you down with heavy duty drama.

Despite having cliched plot points and a predictable looking setup, the director turns these cliches on its head, giving us a few surprises and an enjoyable film in the process.

With uniformly good performances by the cast, it’s the perfect break for festival audiences feeling low after experiencing an overdose of dirge.

JIMMY’S HALL Veteran English filmmaker Ken Loach’s latest film Jimmy’s Hall talks about the life and times of Jimmy Gralton, a 1930s Irish political activist. Jimmy and his friends re-open a dance hall which also acts as a community centre for the youth. Unfortunately the establishment and the Church see the hall & Jimmy Gralton as an Anti National communist and thus it becomes difficult for both Jimmy and the hall to survive. A true life story, the film virtually transports us to Ireland in the 1930’s as we see a plethora of fine performances, lovely visuals and strong moments in the film. Definitely among the best films of the festival this year.

DOMBIVLI RETURN First things first this is not a sequel to the very popular Marathi film, Dombivli Fast (2005). This is actually a Hindi movie directed by debutant filmmaker

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Mahendra Teredesai and features Sandeep Kulkarni in the lead along with Rajeshwari Sachdev and Hrishikesh Joshi. Sandeep Kulkarni is the only common link between both these films and here too he plays a simple middle class character, who is a harmless soul basically. The film tries hard to be a realistic gritty film but fails majorly due to various comprises done with a commercial viewpoint. Also considering the setting and the actors involved the film would have probably looked better if made and treated as a Marathi movie rather than as a Hindi movie.

BLIND MASSAGE (TUI NA) Lou Ye’s film is based on a novel and talks about the employees of a Nanjing massage parlor who share a common trait: they are all blind.

The film has quite a few interesting characters, all of them with their own quirkiness and intrigue in a way. The film is extremely well shot and makes us almost feel that it was shot on real locations and with real characters. At the end of the film you are affected in a way and that shows that the film has worked to a large extent.

NYMPHOMANIAC (VOLUME 2) This takes off from virtually where Volume 1 stops as Joe continues to narrate her tale to Seligman even as he continues bringing out various parallels and references in between. A little more bold and lot more tougher to stomach in terms of moments, the film is easily an interesting experiment in many ways.

METAMORPHOSES Roman mythology plays out in the modern world, and various gods narrate it to young Europa who has run away from an abusive father.

While mostly engaging and well-shot, this film nevertheless feels entirely pointless. Definitely the makers had a reason to make it, but this reason doesn’t manifest on screen.

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I AM NOT HIM The concept is intriguing. A woman whose husband has been thrown in jail starts an affair with his lookalike.

Gradually he begins to step into the husband’s shoes in more ways than one. As the film progresses, even more intrigue is piled on until finally your logical brain rejects the concept. Over reliance by the script on coincidences and an intentionally lazy pace bring the film directed by Tayfun Pirselimoglu down by several notches.

THE BLUE ROOM Actor – director Mathieu Amalric’s The Blue Room shuttles back and forth between the affair he has had and scenes in a courtroom for the fatal consequences it has led to. The stage is set for a terrific ending which never comes. No big reveal, no twist in the tail and quite an anti-climax eventually.

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA Oliver Assayas’ latest is what one would condescendingly describe as a “talkie film”, a film where for a larger part, actors just talk. But dont let that put you off. If the conversation is interesting and the actors make is worth your while, it can be as fascinating as your regular thriller. Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart are upto the task.

Binoche is an ageing actress who is now being offered the role of the elder lesbian lover when she had played the younger one 20 years ago. It’s kind of like Michael Caine in Sleuth’s remake. Stewart is her assistant.

The generation gap and ensuing change in view points is beautifully brought out through dialogue.

BLACK COAL, THIN ICE (BAI RI YAN HUO) Winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, the film is set in Northern China and the story shifts from 1999 to 2004. Black Coal, Thin Ice talks of a detective who is on the trail of a series of murders

which happen in 1999. The investigation is resumed 5 years later when identical murders begin all over again. A dark thriller, the film has some really standout moments which stay with you well after the film is over but personally I found the film a tad too underwhelming. The film meanders a little too much for comfort and does not have the grittiness that one would have ideally expected.

INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE Suspicion (Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto) Elio Petri’s 1970 Italian crime drama has gone on to become a classic of sorts over the years. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Film,it also won both the FIPRESCI Award and the Grand Prize at Cannes as well. The head of the homicide department in a sudden fit of rage kills his girlfriend. He goes on to leave deliberate clues at the murder site, while at the same time going on to get promoted and move on to another department. Narrated in non-linear fashion, the film sees a standout performance from Giara Maria Volonte. It was indeed a pleasure to watch the restored version of this classic at MAMI this year.

Film and Best Film under the ‘Horizons’ section). Court takes a look at the Indian Judicial system in realistic fashion with the help of a particular case which involves a folk singer being tried for abetment to suicide of a sewage cleaner, and drawing inferences from the key characters involved in dealing with the case. The film is filled with adequate humorous moments, but in a natural flow altogether. Considering that the film has a cast which comprises of mainly new faces, majority of them being non actors, Court is quite a good debut by Chaitanya Tamhane.

THEEB Naji Abu Nowar’s tale talks of a Bedouin boy who experiences a desert adventure when he joins a British officer searching for a well on the eve of the 1916 Arab Revolt. Its a good subject chosen by the director for his debut film as the film is not only engaging but also visually very pleasing to the eyes. There’s a sense of thrill and adventure all through the film as we get to meet various types of characters in the film. The film in a way is also about the coming of age of the boy named Theeb (Arabic for wolf).

NEXT TO HER (AT LI LAYLA)

KUTTRAM KADITHAL (THE PUNISHMENT)

Asaf Korman’s Israeli film is a lovely relationship drama centered around 2 sisters, 27 year old Rachel and her 24 year old mentally challenged sister, Gabby. Rachel works as a security guard at a school and also takes care of her sister. Her whole life revolves around her job and Gabby when she finds love in the form of her colleague, Zohar.

This is a film handled with a lot of sensitivity which works in favour of the film as it tackles an interesting premise.

This is a forthcoming Tamil film to look forward to as it is yet to have its theatrical release. Kuttram Kadithal incidentally is also the only Tamil movie as part of this year’s Indian Panorama at IFFI. Debutant writer-director Bramma has chosen an important,sensitive & humane subject & handled it with care.Kudos to the producers for backing a film like this which has a whole host of new actors & technicians making their debut. This is a film that has a Pan Indian connection with regards to the theme and at the end the film leaves us with a lot of points to ponder over.

PERARIYATHAVAR (NAMES UNKNOWN) Dr.Biju’s Perariyathavar first got noticed when it won 2 National Awards this year, for Best Actor (Suraj Venjaramoodu) and Best Film on Environment Conservation/ Preservation. The film talks about a widowed man who lives with his only son and works as a scavenger. On most days he is accompanied during his work by his son. Chami is his friend and colleague,belonging to a tribal community.

Together they represent the marginalized sections of the society,whom no one else cares for. A well made film on a very sensitive and important topic, the film is quite engaging and boasts of some good performances as well.

- Excerpt from www.madaboutmoviez.com

COURT Chaitanya Tamhane’s debut film is not just a Marathi film but a true blue Mumbai film as it represents the spirit of the city quite well. The only Indian film in the International Competition section at MAMI this year, Court is the winner of 2 awards at Venice Film Festival this year (Best Debut

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Remembering the dragon

Bruce Lee is arguably the most influential martial artist in history because he essentially introduced Chinese martial arts to the world. Within a short span of time, he inspired millions to practice martial arts. “Little Dragon” Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco during the Chinese Year of the Dragon (November 27, 1940). When he was a child actor in Hong Kong, he would run around the set with a praying mantis on his shoulder, thus his interest in the praying mantis fist form of Kung Fu. After practicing ‘Choy lay fut’, Bruce Lee began studying ‘Wing chun’ under Ip Man in 1954. To avoid gang fights in Hong Kong and get his U.S. citizenship, Bruce Lee moved back to the United States in 1959 and began teaching ‘Wing Chun’ at his newly opened Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. Recognizing the weaknesses of traditional Kung fu training, Bruce Lee created his own martial way, ‘Jeet kune do’. He believed one’s movements and mind should flow like water, which is why his school motto was “using no way as way; having no limitation as limitation.”

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An inspiration to many, the dragon’s words are now quotes. Let’s reminisce the prodigy by recollecting just a few of them.

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10 000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10 000 times.”

“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

“Knowing is not enough; We must apply.

Willing is not enough; We must do.”

“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”

“Defeat is a state of mind; No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.”

“Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.”

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own.”

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

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MUSIC

Taylor Swift makes

History The album ‘1989’ by Taylor Swift opened as number one in 80 countries! In the USA it’s tipped to cross the coveted first week sales of 1 million adjusted units, which will make it the first album in 2014 to cross the magic 1 million figure- this means that it will end up selling close to 2 million globally in just one week of it’s release. This is quite phenomenal and reinforces the fact that Taylor Swift is the biggest female pop star on the planet!

Taylor Swift’s 1989 debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the largest sales week for an album since 2002, even! 1989 sold 1.287 million copies in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Nielsen SoundScan. 1989 is Swift’s fifth studio album and was released on October 27th through Big Machine Records. It’s her fourth No.1 album, following Red (in 2012), Speak Now(2010) and Fearless (2008).

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Here are some of the achievements Swift has earned with the debut of 1989:

-Swift is the only act to earn three million-selling weeks with an album

-The largest sales week for an album since June 2, 2002

She also racked up million-selling weeks with the debuts of Red (1.208 million) and Speak Now (1.047 million). She was already the only woman to have two million-selling frames. (Her first two albums, 2008’s Fear¬less and her 2006 self-titled debut, bowed with 592,000 and 39,000, respectively.)

When Eminem’s The Eminem Show sold 1.322 million in its second chart week at No. 1. The album de¬buted atop the chart a week earlier, selling 285,000 copies after it was released on a Friday, giving the album only three days of sales in its chart bow.

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-1989 is immediately the biggest-selling album released in 2014 It is the only one to sell a million in total, after only a week on sale. It jumps ahead of Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour, which has sold 746,000.

-Incredibly, after just one week on sale, 1989 is the second-largest-selling album of 2014

3.2 million this year. (It was released in November 2013 and has sold 3.5 million cumulatively.) 1989 and ‘Frozen’ are the only two albums to sell a million copies in 2014.

-1989 is just the 19th album to sell a million copies in a week since Sound¬Scan started tracking sales in 1991 Of the last four million-selling weeks, which have all occurred since 2010, Swift owns three of them!

It is behind only the ‘Frozen’ soundtrack- the latter has sold

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