what we are reading – EightandHalf
What’s the point of being a filmmaker if you don’t have fanboys, right?
So here’s a fanboy video made by the “usual suspects” which is inspired by Anurag Kashyap’s latest film That Girl In Yellow Boots. It’s easy to guess who the suspects (read carefully) are but since it came from an anonymous mail id, we will let them be.
Click on the play button and check it out.
KOLKATA CHAPTER
WHAT : I & Eye, a series of multicity seminars on documentary practices and perceptions, an initiative by Whistling Woods International comes to Kolkata with Q’s Love In India.
WHEN/WHERE : 17th Aug 2011 at Cinemax Mani Square, 6 p.m. onwards.
FILM + Discussion + Q & A:
6-7pm : Screening of Love In India
7-8pm : Panel Discussion – DISPELLING THE MYTH : There is ‘No Scope’ in Documentaries
Panelists : Shyamal Karmakar (Editor, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye), Saurabh Sarangi (Director, Bilal) and Q. The session will be moderated by Somnath Sen, VP Academic Affiliates, WWI & Director of Leela
8:15-9pm : The seminar will be followed by an interaction with the film maker Kaushik Mukherjee (Q).
ENTRY : Free. SMS – +91-9892954997 (Stephen)// Email documentaryinfo@whistlingwoods.net(Menka)// Call : 022-30916000
MUMBAI CHAPTER
Songs Of Protest : I&EYE culminates on 19th Aug 2011 at WWI campus in Filmcity, Mumbai. It will unveil a viral campaign created by the students of WWI for an Independent music album Songs of Protest – a collection of revolutionary songs from the tumultuous 40’s and the 50’s.
The unusual album, produced by Susmit Sen (Founder & Lead Guitarist, Indian Ocean) was born out of economist Sumangala Damodaran’s Research & Documentation Project that aims to explore a forgotten musical tradition of the Songs of Protest sung during pre- independence days (ie from the 1940s and 1950s) by the artists of IPTA – the Indian People’s Theatre Association.
The BIG DEBATE : DOCUMENTARY , after all, can tell lies. And it can tell lies because it lays claim to a form of veracity which the fiction doesn’t.
Panelists : Bishakha Datta, Paromita Vora
ENTRY : FREE. To register SMS : +91-9892954997 (Stephen) // Email : documentaryinfo@whistlingwoods.net// Call : 022-30916000
Every time a Shammi Kapoor song plays on tv, I stop everything and stare at the screen with eyes wide open. Grinning from ear to ear, my face looks like McDonald’s Ronin. And his songs needs to be seen because there is so much fun and energy in the way he danced. Nobody entertained like him.
Now obits have been written, wikipedia page has been edited and his songs have been played non-stop though the day. Putting three songs/videos in this post which you might not have seen/heard.
First one is a special tribute to Shammi Kapoor by one of the greatest actors of our time, Naseeruddin Shah. This song is from his film Sitam in which he played a Shammi fanatic. And I have been told that he is Shammi fan in real life too. Play on.
And here’s another tribute to him…this song’s lyrics is all about Shammi Kapoor’s film titles.
And the last one. After Shammi Kapoor married Geeta Bali, he was doing a film with Kidar Sharma, Rangeen Raaten. And Geeta Bali wanted to be with him. She requested Kidar to have her as the heroine but Mala Sinha was already signed on for the film. Since Geeta had no female role, she played the role of a man, not in disguise but a male character in the film Rangeen Raaten.
All info and videos via Pavan Jha.
We are quite late on this one. Have been reading a lot about the film and have missed few screenings too. The good news is the film will again have a screening in Mumbai soon at the Naya Cinema Festival. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the trailer of the film.
The first trailer of Pankaj Kapur’s director debut Mausam is out. The film stars Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in the lead and promises to be a “timeless journey of love”.
Yashraj Films is ready with a new film – Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. The film stars Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar and is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. Strangely similar stories have been explored in Dan In Real Life and Onir’s Sorry Bhai.
Experimental, obscure, tangential, inaccessible and over indulgent. These are just some of the adjectives commonly used to define the cinema of Mani Kaul. If you ever tried watching (or watched) any of Kaul’s film, you will understand what these adjectives mean. And if you haven’t, then you must give it a try. Because if artists don’t indulge, experiment and go off tangent, then who will? The result might be inaccessible for the majority but when has the majority ever voted for anything that’s cult.
And the bigger problem is to find the resources to figure out what Kaul tried to say through his cinema. Thanks to our lack of interest in any kind of artistic documentation, we have access to best of cinema from across the world, but we don’t know where to look for the desi ones. So, in this post we are putting all the links related to Mani Kaul. If you have any, do comment or let us know.
Kaul’s essay – Beneath the surface: Cinematography and Time
The Films of Mani Kaul by Just Another Film Buff. Quite elaborate post that covers Uski Roti, Duvidha, Satah Se Uthata Aadmi, Dhrupad, Siddheshwari, Nazar, Naukar Ki Kameez and Een Aaps Regenjas (A Monkey’s Raincoat).
Filmmaker Sudipto Chattopadhyay’s tribute – The Magic Of Mani Kaul.
Kaul’s documentary Dhrupad in seven parts.
His short film The Cloud Door.
MUBI’s page on Mani Kaul and his films.
Mani Kaul’s interview in Tehelka and another interview.
Short film Arrival – Part 1 and Part 2.
Profile of Mani Kaul and his movies on Upperstall.
Excerpts from Satah Se Uthta Aadmi which was screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section – click here, here and here.
Understanding Mani Kaul and his films by Devdutt Trivedi on DearCinema.com
Shubhra Gupta’s column His Visuals Talked.
Girish Shahane on Kaul and his cinema on his blog Shoot First, Mumble Later
Ode To A Guru by Bina Paul, Artistic Director of the IFFK.
An Interview with Mani Kaul by Tushar.
To Mani With Love by Neville Tulli.
RIP.
Starring Mahie Gill and Deepak Dobriyal, the film is inspired by the Maria Susairah-Neeraj Grover case. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the film is “cinematographed and edited by FX School”. Can someone please explain this to us?
IPL is over. And welcome back to the movies. Here are the three new theatrical trailers. First one is Aamir Khan Production’s Delhi Belly. 2nd is Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra One and the Bhatts are ready with a new installment of Murder – Murder2.
Aha, the self-referencing parade just doesn’t end. Check out the video. The film is directed by Puri Jagannath and stars Amitabh Bachchan.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 