what we are reading – EightandHalf
CINTAA, IMPPA and IFTDA, the three film bodies recently organised a memorial event for Om Puri where his friends and fans from the film industry got together and shared their memories.
Varun Grover was there and managed to record some of it. Do check out the playlist. It has Rakesh Bedi, Satish Kaushik, Neena Gupta and Johnny Lever talking about their memories of the actor.
More good news coming from Berlin International Film Festival. Two more Indian features have been selected for this year’s edition.
Amit V Masurkar’s sophomore feature Newton is all set to make its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. The Drishyam Films produced feature will be screened in the ‘Forum’ section of the Berlinale which features ‘avant-garde, experimental works, political reportage and yet-to-be-discovered cinematic landscapes’.
Newton was part of the Co-Production Market (CPM) at Film Bazaar, 2015 and also one of the Film Bazaar Recommends titles at Film Bazaar 2016. The film stars Rajkummar Rao in the title role and is a sharp political black comedy that takes place on an election day in Central India. Rajkummar Rao plays Newton, a rookie clerk on election duty in a conflict-ridden jungle of Chhattisgarh, who tries his best to conduct free and fair voting despite the apathy of security forces and the looming fear of an attack by Maoist rebels. The supporting cast includes Anjali Patil, Pankaj Tripathi and Raghubir Yadav.
The second film, Haobam Paban Kumar’s Manipuri film Loktak Lairembee (Lade Of The Lake) is also selected in the same ‘Forum’ section of the fest. The film has been doing the fest rounds for quite some time now and was also the winner of top prize in the India Gold section of Mumbai Film Festival.
Haobam has 5 National Film Awards and 5 Indian Panorama Selections to his credit. The film Loktak Lairembee (Lady of the lake) is his debut fiction feature film.
Here’s the official synopsis of the film –
Loktak Lake is a unique ecosystem where fishermen lived in huts built on floating biomasses. In 2011, the authorities, in the name of protecting serenity of the ecosystem, burnt down the huts leaving thousands of fishermen homeless. Tomba, one of the victims, lives with a harrowing nightmare of looming displacement since then. He is haunted by seamless fear of further intervention of authorities that would make him homeless forever. Confined in his makeshift hut, Tomba senses the spirit of evil around, while his wife Thambalsang works hard to make their living. One fine morning Tomba accidentally finds a gun hidden within the biomass. He marvels with the gun as his power of self-protection. He transforms himself to an assertive man who is looking for an appropriate offense. One day, an old lady who mysteriously wanders in the lake, knocks at his door in the middle of the night. Fearful Tomba, anticipating the lady as the spirit of all evils, chases her and commits an unintended crime.
Trailer
Filmmaker Amar Kaushik’s short film, Aaba has been selected for 67th Berlin International Film Festival which will run from 9-19th February, 2017. The film will premiere in the Generation Kplus category of the fest.
Interestingly, Amar’s mother, Shashi Kaushik has written the story. It revolves around an orphan girl who comes across the news of her grandfather reaching the terminal stages of lung cancer. As the grandfather (Aaba) starts counting his days, the family faces unexpected turns.
The film has been shot in the picturesque valley of Arunachal Pradesh. Aaba is produced by Raj Kumar Gupta and Mitul Dikshit, and co-produced by Onir and Alison Welly.
Earlier, Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair’s Ottaal, Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dhanak, and Avinash Arun’s Killa have premiered in the same category of the fest.
Click here to read about the shooting experience of Aaba.
With Om Puri’s death, we have lost one of the best acting talents this country has ever produced. His body of work is impossible to match – from parallel cinema to mainstream bollywood, from indies to world cinema and Hollywood. Any terrific artist like him always leaves behind a huge legacy. But it’s always our small stories about how we felt connected with them at some point in life makes them more memorable. That connect is individual and sacred. Lyricist Swanand Kirkire shared this memory on his FB.
जब मैं ११ में पढता था, अर्धसत्य देखी थी रीगल सिनेमा में।
सिनेमा में ५ दिन लगातार, १२ से ३।
अनंत वेलनकर दिमाग पर ऐसा छाया था की कुछ दिनों बाद जब फाइनल एक्जाम हुए और अंग्रेजी के पेपर में यूवर हीरो विषय पर निबंध लिखने को आया तो मैंने दे धना धन अपने हीरो ओम पुरी पर ४ पन्ने लिख मारे।
बाहर आकर दोस्तों को बताया वो हंसने लगे ।
किसी ने जवाहर लाल नेहरू पर लिखा था और किसी ने सुभाष चंद्र बोस ।
मेरी सिट्टी पिट्टी गुम ।
वो तो भला हो पेपर जांचने वाले का की उसने मुझे ठीक ठाक नंबर दे कर पास कर दिया।
बहोत सालों बाद मुम्बई के शुरुवाती दिनों में मैं जानी-मानी अभिनेत्री सारिका जी के साथ एक किताब पर काम कर रहा था।
पता चला पुरी साहब उनके अच्छे दोस्त थे।
बातों ही बातों में ये किस्सा उन्हें सुना दिया ।
२९ अप्रैल १९९९ मेरे जन्म दिन पर अचानक सारिका जी ने मुझे घर पर खाने का निमंत्रण दिया ।
मैं गया तो उन्होंने कुछ लोगों को बुला रखा था ।
उनमे एक ओम पुरी साहब भी थे ख़ास मेरे लिए !!!!!
सारिका जी ने मेरे निबंध का किस्सा उन्हें सुनाया, खूब हंसे थे पुरी साहब !
सपने देखने और पूरे होने दोनों की शुरुवात ओम पुरी साहब से हुई ।
सारिका जी का जितना शुक्रिया कहूँ कम है ।
पुरी साहब आप का जाना वजूद से किसे हिस्से के चले जाने जैसा है ।
काश कोई मुझे वो पुरानी एग्जाम की कॉपी ला कर देता ताकि मैं आपको फिर से बता सकता की आप मेरे लिए क्या थे ।
अलविदा ।
– स्वानंद किरकिरे
Tarkovsky Film Club is organising screening of Russian films. And here’s the best part – entry is free. The screening schedule is attached. It has all the other details too.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 